Medical disaster defined

Decontamination is defined as the process of removing or neutralizing a hazard from the environment, property, or life form. The principal objectives of this process are to prevent further harm and optimize the chance for full clinical recovery or restoration of the object exposed to Ae dangerous hazard. The triage process is the initial step taken to meet the primary objectives of a disaster response, which involves sorting the injured by priority and determining the best utilization of available resources (e.g., personnel, equipment, medications, ambulances, and hospital beds). This chapter includes a review of decontamination and mass triage with an emphasis on the research and development needs in these areas of disaster response. 

---