Warm zone

Do not eat, drink, smoke, or apply eosmeties in the hot or warm zones. 

No one enters the Hot Zone or Warm Zone without appropriate personal protective equipment. Ensure that responding agencies know the danger (s) they face by responding to this incident. 

Decontamination Corridor A corridor that acts as a protective buffer and bridges between the hot zone and the cold zone and is located in the warm zone within which decontamination stations and personnel are located to apply decontamination procedures. 

Warm Zone The area where personnel and equipment decontamination takes place. 

With major representation in tropical and warm zones and a few temperate species, the Gbenaceae are known for timbers (ebony) and fruits (persimmons). 

Of tropical and warm zones. Angiopteris (= Onoclea) spp. (2), included in Aspidiaceae. -... 

Tropical and warm zones, particularly of the southern hemisphere, are the major areas of distribution of (his family, which has yielded sarsaparilla used as a medicinal tonic and as the base for refreshing drinks. Some species are also cultivated as ornamentals. 

The complete range of Etvalues spans from about 50% in cold rainy regions to 0.5% in warm zones. Large variations are also observed within each climatic zone as a function of topography and the type of local soil or exposed rock, causing different extents of water retardation at or near the surface, resulting, in turn, in different intensities of evapotranspira-tion-induced water losses into the atmosphere. 

Cold Adjacent to the Warm Zone, and uphlll/upwind from the contamination area... 

Cold Zone This area is adjacent (and uphill and upwind) to the warm zone and is where decontaminated victims enter. As the victims enter this area, a more thorough triage is performed (including evaluation for secondary injuries), and victims are directed to treatment areas based on the severity and nature of illness or injury. Personal protective equipment is maintained in this area in case the wind changes or victims arrive who have been improperly decontaminated. 

Warm/Dirty Adjacent to the hospitai, usuaiiy near the Emergency Department (remote to the reiease site) Hospitai decontamination area. This area needs a source of water (coid ciimates require a warm water source) for decontamination and barriers to controi entrance and exit from the area, which must be tightiy controiied. Personnei working in this area (first receivers) have potential to be exposed to the contaminant(s) and, therefore, must wear the appropriate level of PPE (level C minimum). At the entrance to the Warm Zone is the initial triage station. All ambulance and walk-in cases must enter the facility after going through this triage station. Victims who are clearly not contaminated skip the Warm Zone and enter the Cold (Clean) Zone directly. All others proceed into the Warm Zone for decontamination. 

Prepare decontamination area (warm zone should be outside of the facility). 

Direct patient to the decontamination area (Warm Zone). 

Administer invasive procedures in the Contamination Reduction Zone (on-scene) or Warm Zone (hospital setting) only when it is absoiuteiy necessary. 

Direct to ambulatory assembly area in the Warm Zone for further review... 

If the upper half of the reaction tube is heated to 170 to 180° by means of an electric tube furnace, the sulfuryl chloride fluoride (formed in the lower half of the tube) reacts with potassium fluorosulfite in the heated portion of the tube to produce sulfuryl fluoride. The reaction is substantially complete when the narrow warm zone characteristic of the formation of sulfuryl chloride fluoride has reached the externally heated portion of the tube, where the SO2CIF SO2F2 transformation takes place. A mixture of the two liquid products is formed in the flask surrounded with Dry Ice the two products can be separated easily by fractional distillation and may be identified by their infrared or mass spectra. ... 

Prehospital Setting. The most important care that the casualty receives is the care that is given within the first several minutes of a chemical attack. The conduct of the care given immediately after toxic chemical agent exposure, including the administration of antidotes, can literally mean the difference between life and death. This is not an overstatement (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, June 2001). Since this care will be rendered in a warm zone, personal protective equipment (PPE) must be employed by the responder. 

The basic concept of operations envisages that contaminated casualties who are rescued or self-evacuate from the heavily contaminated hot zone should be rapidly undressed, triaged (Fisher et al, 1999), given basic life support treatment and decontaminated in the warm zone before being passed to the cold zone for fuller assessment, treatment and, if necessary, subsequent transfer to hospital. 

This is important for chemical releases involving fires and corrosive materials. Filtration respirators are not appropriate in this area because (1) the atmosphere may be oxygen deficient as a result of the fire, and (2) filtration canisters do not remove carbon monoxide, one of the main risks in products of combustion. In a warm zone, however, where oxygen levels are normal and there is no carbon monoxide risk, level-A suits are not required and level-C protection is appropriate This protection uses a lightweight suit with a filtration respirator giving mobility, dexterity and communication potential. It is the type of protection that should be used by emergency medical personnel involved in chemical release incidents (see Box 2). 

Figure 7. Plan Piratox (red plan) arrangement of HAZMAT zones [LHA, liquid hazard (hot) zone VHA, vapour hazard (warm) zone]. Triage is conducted (1) to detect contamination, and (2) for medical status in the triage point or the AMP. Later modifications of the plan allow for the provision of early life support (TOXALS) when required inside the warm zone...

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