Introduction: Chemical incidents are events that require special professional qualification, good organization and communication between first rescue teams. Firefighters, emergency medical assistance and the police are among the first rescue teams. First rescue teams play a key role. Their maintasks include isolation of a chemical incident, the medical care of the injured and there mediation of the incident. Due to their exposal to hazardous materials, they are obliged to use personal protective equipment of the appropriate protection level. When the objective of a chemical incident is a hazardous material with a transfer potential, it is also essential to execute appropriate decontamination of all exposed–including rescuers. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma work is to show the types and principles of the decontamination of the injured and the members of first rescue teams in a chemical incident. We will present personal protective equipment used by first rescue teams during their intervention in chemical incidents. We also want to point out the dangers to which first rescue teams are exposed, the consequences of exposure to hazardous materials and the role of first rescue teams during intervention in a chemical incident. Methods: The diploma work is dominated by a literature review. The diploma work is based on a systematic review of professional and scientific literature in Slovene and English. Articles in English are sourced from the scientific bases CINAHL, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Science. Due to the lack of literature in the field of decontamination of the first rescue teams in chemical accidents, we did not limit these arch for literature with time and geography factors. In order to include articles in the diploma work, the first criterion used we resuitable titles of articles and as a second, substantive coherence with the research topic. Collection of material stook place from december 2017 to september 2018. We searched articles via COBISS.SI and Dikul. Results: During intervention in chemical incidents first rescue teams are exposed to a lot of health risks, therefor personal protective equipment with an adequate level of protection is mandatory. The highest exposure to hazardous materials is located in the hot zone which is accessible by firefighters only. Firefighters are also the ones who perform decontamination in a warmor decontamination zone. The main role of emergency medical assistance is health care provided to victims and support to other professional rescue teams. Discussion and resolutions: The first rescue teams are the first to start dealing with the consequences of a chemical incident, during which the rescuers are exposed to hazardous materials and the possibility of poisoning. The most common signs and symptoms of exposure to hazardous materials in a chemical incident are signs of respiratory irritation and headache. In order to reduce the risk of exposure to hazardous materials, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment. At the end of the rescue operation, the rescuers also need to carry out personal and technical decontamination, whic heliminates dangerous substances from the protective clothing, rescue equipment and technical equipment.
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