title: The evaluation of readiness of medical personnel to act under conditions of chemical contamination.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the knowledge of physicians, nurses, and paramedics in Poland about the procedures in a chemical contamination.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous survey was mailed to 600 randomly selected physicians, nurses, and paramedics. The survey included questions concerning the process of decontamination, knowledge of toxidromes, and the use of selected antidotes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed surveys were received from 510 respondents (85%). A very low level of knowledge was observed regarding decontamination techniques (from 8.3% to 34.2%), use of antidotes (from 13.7% to 61%), and knowledge of toxidromes (from 10.2% to 22.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings showed that for all aspects of chemical rescue procedures queried, the knowledge of medical personnel was not satisfactory. Both practical and theoretical training of medical personnel is urgently needed for life-saving procedures during a chemical contamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiosurgery and Transplantology,Institute of Cardiology,Warsaw,Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Szarpak
authors.affiliation: Anesthesiology,Institute of Cardiology,Warsaw,Poland.
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055884:Chemical Hazard Release; D051337:Chemical Terrorism; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D055815:Young Adult