Decontamination unit planned at Queen's
| • | Advertiser special: Anthrax: Fighting the Fear |
By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff writer
In response to public fears of anthrax contamination following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, The Queen's Medical Center is building a new chemical decontamination center next to its emergency room and expects to have it operational next month.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The hospital now uses a portable tent with canvas sides that drop to provide some privacy while patients are washed down to remove chemicals. Queen's is working with the city to fast-track needed building permits and open the 726-square-foot facility as quickly as possible.
Susan Orr, manager of emergency room/trauma services at The Queen's Medical Center, shows a rendering of the hospital's planned expanded decontamination unit to be built just outside the emergency room.
Queen's said it will be the state's largest permanent decontamination unit.
"With what has happened on the Mainland, we cannot think we are isolated here in Hawai'i," said Susan Orr, the hospital's emergency room manager. "As the largest hospital, we want to be very proactive."
Anxious Hawai'i residents have reported hundreds of suspicious powders and packages at airports, homes and businesses over the past few weeks amid fears about possible terrorist attacks with biological or chemical weapons. None of the substances was determined to be dangerous, and no anthrax has been found in the Islands.
Orr said all hospitals in the state are required to have some type of decontamination facility and most, including Queen's, use portable units — basically a tent and a hose. Castle Medical Center already has a permanent, two-shower facility.
With only one shower, Queen's currently can decontaminate a maximum of 12 to 20 people in 45 minutes. The new center will include 12 showers, which will increase capacity to 180 to 200 people an hour. Queen's new facility will also feature separate men's and women's areas. After showering, victims will enter the emergency room through a private entrance.
"This permanent decontamination room will enable us to provide emergency services more expeditiously and to a larger number of individuals should the need arise," said Dr. Dale Oda, Queen's chief of emergency medicine.
Gary Dias, hospital chief of security, said the portable facility has been used 15 to 20 times in the last two years, most recently to treat about 30 people from Waikiki for pepper spray contamination; 15 'Aiea students who complained of itching; and a dozen workers from Campbell Industrial Park after a chemical spill.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
