Having assured yourself that the patient is stable, you now decide to obtain samples of areas that are contaminated. Cotton swab samples of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth are taken. A swab of the wound area is taken as well.
Decontamination of the patient begins by using two teams. One team starts at the head and cleans the wound while the other starts at the feet. The wound is easily decontaminated and reaches background activity with one washing. Primary closure of the wound begins as the remainder of the body is washed, dried and resurveyed.
Finally, the patient is decontaminated and the wound closed and dressed. Another clean team transfer occurs after a final survey to determine that the patient has no residual contamination present. The patient is then transferred to a room for observation.
Your staff removes their protective clothing prior to leaving the room. Each has a full body survey to ensure that no contamination is present. After leaving, the radiation technician and the hospital radiation safety officer assist housekeeping in cleaning the room.