It was not 9/11 that made local hospital officials think seriously about operations in regard to terrorism – although handling victims in the aftermath did test their resources. But an event a few days after the attack brought home just how the hospital needed to set up a program that would address incoming victims from a bio-terrorist, chemical or another hazardous material attack.
Anthrax was in the news. People had died elsewhere in New Jersey and in other parts of the county. Someone reported a white powder locally, and Meadowlands Hospital had to decontaminate people before they were allowed into the hospital building for further testing.
And while the hospital managed to perform the operation with the help of the Secaucus Volunteer Fire Department and the Secaucus Office of Emergency Management, hospital officials began to realize the potential for problems in the future. Along with the growing need for homeland security, Meadowlands – as part of the Liberty Healthcare System – began putting in place a system that could handle large numbers of people, a quickly set-up decontamination team that could remove contaminants before anyone could get into the hospital and spread the problem to others.
Well before the 9/11 attacks, the United States government saw this aspect of protecting medical facilities as critical, and in setting up the United State Domestic Preparedness Program in 1997, Congress was particularly concerned about chemical and biological weapons — and the community’s inability to care for an overwhelming number of chemically contaminated patients.
“Even when emergency responders successfully decontaminate and triage large numbers of patients at the scene, it is unlikely that area hospitals are prepared to receive these patients and treat them within the boundaries of the existing health care system,” the executive summary of that 1997 federal law said.
This became a concern after a 1995 chemical attack on people riding a Toyko subway. Currently, 17 nations are known to be developing bio or chemical weapons for attack.
“Liberty Healthcare realized that it needed to start its own chemical decontamination program,” said John Reilly, who serves as one of Hudson County’s representatives to the state’s Homeland Security program. “Secaucus, because it is a hub of technology, is considered one of the soft targets.”
Yet even if Secaucus is not targeted, Meadowlands Hospital could become a center for treating victims from other locations.
“When other areas have people, those areas may look to us to help handle the overflow,” Reilly said.
Steve Williams, communications director for Meadowlands Hospital, said a unique program was put into place that would allow the hospital to shut itself off from the world and create a decontamination facility that could control the flow of people into the hospital.
“We established a staging area behind the hospital,” he said. “We have teams in place at the hospital at all times. So what when we get notification, the team sets up the decontamination center.”
According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention, chemical or biological weapons are substances that have a chemical effect on living process, and may cause death, temporary loss of performance, or permanent injury to people or animals.
A special tent for decontamination
The hospital has a new lightweight “decon shelter” that can be set up in less than 10 minutes by two people, and can function in any kind of weather, and handle any kind of patient. If people can walk, there is a passage along one side that allows them to step in, take off their clothing, wash, rinse, and dress in robes supplied by the hospital.
Clothing, Williams noted, is likely to contain the most chemicals, and by removing them before the shower, decontamination workers eliminate the biggest threat.
On the other side, there is a roller system that allows people who are on backboards to be stripped, washed and brought into the hospital for treatment.
The unit, which is contained in a package smaller than an average trunk, uses an articulating frame technology. This is a kind of web work of light weight aluminum that holds up the tent-like structure. A large man could climb over the tent using these supports as a ladder and not break one of the supports. Yet if a support breaks, the design keeps the tent up.
“If there is snow, this will hold up,” Williams said.
The unit does not need electricity to set up or pumps to inflate. So if there is a power outage, the unit can still operate. A heating device can be attached, fueled by whatever fuel is available, keeping those inside the tent warm while going through the process.
The two-corridor system allows privacy, with flaps that close at each section. People strip, push their clothing out through a gap in the tent, then move onto the next compartment. A solution injector or shower sprays baby shampoo over the person, and in another compartment. This is washed off in another compartment by water spray.
All the water drains into a large bag – something that looks like a hot water bottle, but is hundreds of times larger. This water is later disposed off as hazardous waste.
The decontamination team works in sealed suits called Tyveck suits. These are face masks and breathing filters with a compressor that allows people to breathe and function while treating others.
The unit can handle 10 to 15 people per minute or about 800 per hour.
The staging area is at the rear of the hospital, where ambulances can bring patients and the flow of people into the hospital can be controlled.
Williams said that if there is a decontamination situation, the hospital goes into a lockdown, with all doors locked and monitored. Should a section become contaminated, section can be cut off from the others to prevent the spread of contamination to other parts.
The tent that Meadowlands Hospital uses is designed to clean those who have been in contact with the materials. The tents can withstand more than 20-mile-per-hour winds and 190 pounds of snow on them.
“People are on duty 24 hours, seven days a week,” Williams said. “If something should happen, we have people here who can handle the situation.”