Handling Suspicious Substances
Purpose
The purpose
of these policy guidelines is to recommend procedures for handling potential
biological threats.
HOW TO IDENTIFY SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES AND LETTERS
Some characteristics of suspicious
packages and letters include the following...
Excessive postage
Handwritten or poorly typed addresses
Incorrect titles
Title, but no name
Misspellings of common words
Oily stains, discolorations or odor
No return address
Excessive weight
Lopsided or uneven envelope
Protruding wires or aluminum foil
Excessive security material such as
masking tape, string, etc.
Visual distractions
Ticking sound
Marked with restrictive endorsements,
such as Personal or Confidential
Shows a city or state in the postmark
that does not match the return address
SUSPICIOUS
UNOPENED LETTER OR PACKAGE MARKED WITH THREATENING MESSAGE SUCH AS ANTHRAX
Do NOT shake or empty contents of
any suspicious envelope or package
COVER the envelope or package with
anything (e.g., clothing, paper, trashcan, etc.) and do not remove this
cover
LEAVE the room and CLOSE the door, or
section off the area to prevent others from entering i.e., keep others away
WASH your hands with soap and water to
prevent spreading any powder to your face
REPORT the incident to ________.
LIST all people who were in the room or
area when this suspicious letter or package was recognized and give this list
to ______________. This list will be needed for the local public health
authorities and law enforcement officials for follow-up investigations.
POWDER AND POWDER SPILLS OUT ONTO SURFACE:
Do NOT try to clean up THE POWDER.
COVER the spilled contents immediately with anything e.g., cloth, paper,
trashcan, etc. Do NOT remove this cover!
Then LEAVE the room and CLOSE the door,
or section off the area to prevent others from entering (i.e., keep others
away).
Thoroughly WASH your hands with soap and
water to prevent spreading any powder to your face.
REPORT
the incident to ________.
If any of the powder landed on your
clothing, you will need to remove as much of your clothing as possible. If you
feel you are unable to remove your shirt, dress or top without contaminating
your face with powder, wait for assistance. Do NOT remove clothing by
pulling over your head.
SHOWER with soap and water as soon as
possible. DO NOT USE BLEACH or OTHER DISINFECTANT ON YOUR SKIN.
LIST all people who were in the room or
area when this suspicious letter or package was recognized and give this list
to ______________. This list will be needed for the local public health
authorities and law enforcement officials for follow-up investigations.
QUESTION
OF ROOM CONTAMINIATION BYAEROSOLIZATION:
For
example: small device triggered warning that air handling system is
contaminated, or
warning that
a biological agent was released in a public space.
TURN OFF local fans/close windows
LEAVE area immediately
CLOSE the door or section off the area to
prevent others from entering (i.e., keep others away)
STAT PAGE ________________________ to turn
off the air handling system
REPORT the incident to ________.
LIST all people who were in the room or
area when this suspicious letter or package was recognized and give this list
to _______________. This list will be needed for the local public health
authorities and law enforcement officials for follow-up investigations.
Notification
Internal: At
hospital notify ________.
External: All
suspected cases of contamination should be reported immediately to the Local
Health Department who will then contact the State Health Department and/or CDC.
References
CDC Website
Note: These are Guidelines that have been
developed with data available as of 1/21/02.
Initially Prepared by
The Akron Regional Hospital
Association
Emergency Preparedness
Subcommittee
August 20, 2002