AdventHealth Murray nurses complete hospital-based first receiver decontamination course

Tammy Bagley, RN, manager of the emergency department at AdventHealth Murray, and Carol Markum, RN, assistant manager of the emergency department at AdventHealth Murray, recently completed a hospital-based first receiver decontamination course provided by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The course prepares emergency department staff to respond to and manage mass casualty incidents involving the release of hazardous substances. The training focused on how to safely care for patients who have been exposed to chemical, biological or radiological materials and included a full-scale hazmat drill. Bagley and Markum are now training the remainder of the emergency department team.

“We must have a team that is trained to effectively manage the care of multiple victims who have been exposed to hazardous materials while not exposing ourselves to the contamination,” said Bagley. “Our hazmat team at AdventHealth Murray knows that our community has the potential for an event like this to occur with the inland port, carpet mills and trains that pass through our county. We are paying close attention to high-risk areas in our community and taking the steps to be prepared to provide best outcomes to patients in these events.”