TM-5-855-4
6-3.
Decontamination.
a. Procedure. Personnel subjected to contamination must enter a protective structure through a blast
lock and a series of chambers having a continuous outward flow of scavenging air including vestibule,
space for undressing and disposal of contaminated clothing, facilities for showering, and space for
dressing with clean clothing kept in storage.
(1) Upon entering the undressing area persons remove all protective garments and clothing with
the exception of the gas mask. All such clothing is disposed of through specially designed chutes into a
separate isolated room.
(2) The person then proceeds to the shower area where he removes and disposes of his gas mask
after obtaining a thorough rinsing. The mask is disposed of through a second chute located in the shower
area. After washing with soap and water, he proceeds to a dressing area where he obtains towel and
wearing apparel.
b. Duration. The established time for showering is 3 minutes, which means that a person can obtain
safe decontamination of biological contaminants in approximately 9 minutes if an assumption is made
that undressing and redressing can each be accomplished in 3 minutes. The time for undressing and
redressing will depend upon the amount of clothing worn and issued as well as personal toiletry. It is
only the biological contaminants that cannot be immediately detected that necessitate a fixed time and
procedure for safe decontamination and entry.
c. System configuration. The physical size of the decontamination facilities and the requirement for
duplication will be dependent `upon the type of structure, the mission to be accomplished, and the number of
persons that may utilize the facilities during any one period.
(1) It may be necessary in certain hardened structures to provide duplicate decontamination
facilities to accommodate both male and female occupants, as shown in figure 6-3. However, this should
be the exception and not the rule when considering such facilities.
(2) Tests have established the size of the undressing and shower areas as they relate to air
quantities for scavenging and personnel activities.
Therefore, no change in cross-sectional
dimensions of the undressing and shower areas or air quantities will be made without first consulting
AMCCOM, Attn: SMCCR-PPP. The standard corridor type decontamination facility is 3 feet wide and 7
feet high with scavenging air at 20 fpm or 400 cfm total air flow.
(3) Each person requires 9 square feet for undressing and 9 square feet for showering, thus
determining the length of these areas as a function of capacity. For instance, the entry of three persons
every 9 minutes will require an undressing area 3 feet wide by 9 feet long (exclusive of door space and
shower curbs) and shower area of the same size. When this entry system is operated on a continuous
basis, 18 persons per hour can enter the protected area of a structure. Such an entry system is illustrated
in figure 6-4.
(4) Each shower position will be provided with one shower head installed directly overhead. Each
shower head will have a flow rate of 3 to 5 gallons per minute at design pressure. Water temperatures,
period of 12 days.
(5) For dressing rooms air scavenging is not essential, and floor areas of 12 square feet per person
will be used as a basis for design. Where possible dressing rooms will be incorporated in the toilet
facilities of the structure by providing for the shelf storage of clothing and towels in the toilet area. See
figure 6-4.
(6) Shelf space for the storage of towels and clothing will be provided in the dressing area for self-
servicing or in a separate room serviced by issuing personnel. Such a separate room may have both
male and female apparel and be arranged so that it may service duplicate entry systems as shown in
figure 6-3. Shelf space may be determined on the basis of one square foot per person with vertical spacing
of 10 inches between shelves.
(7) The contaminated clothing chute designed by AMCCOM is shown in figure 6-5. Clothing is
pushed through a vertically hung flap door and placed on a horizontal flap door that prevents exposure of
personnel to the outdoors or to previously discarded clothing. The horizontal flap door drops the clothing
to the floor or into a container after the vertical door closes. The clothes chutes must be placed inside the
protected area in a room provided for the collection of contaminated clothing.
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