Rationale:

• Preventing bodily contact with nerve agent vapor or liquid will prevent symptoms from occurring.

Evidence:

• A review and opinion article recommends that medical personnel performing patient decontamination at a hospital should use, at minimum, Level C personal protective equipment (1).
• Multiple case series and reports show that on-scene rescue personnel and hospital-based healthcare workers who do not wear protective equipment are at risk for secondary exposure to nerve agents from contaminated or inadequately decontaminated patients (2; 3; 4).

Comments:

• Butyl rubber gloves are required because latex is permeable to nerve agents.
• Distribution of personal protective equipment, specifically face masks, to the general population as occurred in Israel during the first Gulf War was associated with morbidity and deaths (5).