After your protective equipment has been exposed to hazardous substances, it must be thoroughly decontaminated before you take it off.

Until you do so, your very protective equipment is as dangerous as the hazard itself.

That's why a lot of attention has to be paid to both decontamination equipment and methods. And a properly performed decon session can be very rough treatment indeed.

The pictures shown here were taken at an exercise where one of the most effective portable decontamination station in the world was used.

During the course of 3 minutes, no less than 3,000 litres is sprayed directly at the person from 28 high-pressure nozzles. That's about as much water as you would use in your bathroom at home during an 11-hour shower.

Such a soaking places great stress on the protective suit and respirator. Not only must the equipment be able to withstand high-pressure water spray from every angle, but the must also be able to function properly and let you breathe during the entire shower.

The equipment used in this exercise comprised parts of the SE-shield system for military use: an SE400 positive pressure respirator and a Tyvek F suit specially designed for emergency response work.

Why don't the filters in the respirator clog up or become soaking wet when they are exposed to such an onrush of water? Because the SE400 filters are hydrophobic, that is, they repel water.

All responders in this exercise went through the decon procedure without any problems and could safely remove their suit and respirator after the deluge.

IMPORTANT: The SE400 respirator must be switched on and operating throughout the decontamination routine. Prior to entering the shower, remove and discard the prefilters and prefilter holders.

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