Safety

Tip of the week: My name’s on the back

Hospital Safety Connection, June 10, 2009

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An online news story about an upcoming regional disaster drill--complete with a file photo of workers in decontamination suits--jogged our memory about a simple, but potentially important, piece of advice.
 
Three years ago, we sat in on an emergency management exercise at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, FL, and during that drill, some participants donned full protective suits in preparation for using a decontamination tent.
 
Workers made sure to attach a piece of duct tape on the backs of colleagues who wore the suits, and on the tape they wrote the names of their coworkers.
 
The reasoning is when someone is decked out in full protective gear, it can be difficult to identify exactly who it is, thus also making it hard to keep accurate track of personnel during a response. A makeshift name tag goes a long way in helping note who’s in a decon suit and for how long.



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