NJFFSA16
05-21-2003, 03:53 AM
Storm Lake police receive decontamination chamber as gift
stomjwcar
STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) - It's not as cool as a new fire truck, or
new computer database that can be used to track the most notorious
criminals, but local officials say a portable decontamination
chamber is just as important.
The Storm Lake Police and Fire departments recently received the
decontamination chamber with the help of a $10,000 donation from
the Buena Vista Mutual Insurance Association.
It can be used to decontaminate officers, and others, who may
have been exposed to hazardous materials, such as a methamphetamine
lab or an anhydrous ammonia spill.
The portable chamber can be set up in 10 minutes. It is stored
in a military service vehicle that is equipped with various medical
supplies for the police department.
It has enough room for two people to use it at once, with
individual chambers where contaminated clothing is removed, where a
person is washed off and a chamber where the person can change into
clean clothes.
Mark Prosser, the city's director of public safety, said there
have been at least four cases in the past 18 months where the
equipment would have been useful.
"It's not something a few years ago we would have planned on
having in Storm Lake," he said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
stomjwcar
STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) - It's not as cool as a new fire truck, or
new computer database that can be used to track the most notorious
criminals, but local officials say a portable decontamination
chamber is just as important.
The Storm Lake Police and Fire departments recently received the
decontamination chamber with the help of a $10,000 donation from
the Buena Vista Mutual Insurance Association.
It can be used to decontaminate officers, and others, who may
have been exposed to hazardous materials, such as a methamphetamine
lab or an anhydrous ammonia spill.
The portable chamber can be set up in 10 minutes. It is stored
in a military service vehicle that is equipped with various medical
supplies for the police department.
It has enough room for two people to use it at once, with
individual chambers where contaminated clothing is removed, where a
person is washed off and a chamber where the person can change into
clean clothes.
Mark Prosser, the city's director of public safety, said there
have been at least four cases in the past 18 months where the
equipment would have been useful.
"It's not something a few years ago we would have planned on
having in Storm Lake," he said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)