Menu:
Chemical Emergency
The chemical emergency may happen when dangerous chemical is released and can harm the people's health. It is unintentional in most of the cases, such as the industrial accident, or can be intentional in case of a terrorist strike.
Chemicals are found everywhere as they form to be an important part of our life. The chemical emergency is also a common incident in the homes too. The best way with which you can avoid the chemical accidents and emergency is by reading about it more and following the guidelines for the proper use, storage and disposal of the chemical product.
The danger of chemicals
Some of the dangerous chemicals were developed by military organizations for the purpose of use in warfare. They are nerve agents, like sarin, VX, sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, phosgene and more. Many dangerous chemicals used in industry such as chlorine, ammonia, and benzene are hazardous.
The scientists generally categorize the dangerous chemicals based on the types of chemical. They are also categorized with the effects that chemicals can have on the people who expose to it.
Risk of chemical emergency
You can get exposed to chemicals in three ways-
- Breathing the chemical.
- Eating chemical contaminated food or water or medicines.
- Touching the chemical or coming in contact with contaminated clothing.
What to do in case of chemical emergency
As you feel that you are the victim of chemical accident, act as quickly and follow the instructions of local emergency authorities and coordinators. The situation can be different. The local emergency coordinators will give you a special instruction to follow.
The most important things to do when you think you are exposed to the dangerous chemicals are-
- Quickly remove your contaminated clothing. While taking off the clothing, you should cut it off instead of pulling it over your head. In case, you need to help other people to remove their clothing, you must try to avoid touching the chemical contaminated areas. Keep in mind that you should remove the clothing quickly.
- Wash yourself to remove all chemical from your skin. Use large amounts of soap and water. If you feel some infection in your eyes, rinse them properly for 10 to 15 minutes with plain water.
- Dispose your clothing well so that no one else gets affected. Keep the clothing in a plastic bag without touching the contaminated areas of the cloth. You can wear rubber gloves or can also use tongs, sticks, tool handles and other similar objects. Any object that came in contact with the contaminated clothing must be put in the bag too. Seal the bag and then keep it in other plastic bag.
- Evacuation is important when the area you are living gets contaminated with chemicals. To know when to evacuate, you should listen to the orders of the local police, emergency coordinators, government emergency broadcast system.
- Call 9-1-1 or local fire department to report the nature and location of accident as soon as possible.