The capacity of the decontamination unit was found to be 16 volunteers per hour. The ventilation system and guidelines of the decontamination unit were demonstrated to be effective under the conditions examined. The self-decontamination of the staff was not optimal.

s31over civilian populations at risk. Qualitative and quantitative methods need to be developed for measuring quality and effectiveness in the educational and reporting processes proposed in this model. Sweden is known for its high standards of preparation for chemical incidents. Resources on chemical incidents were allocated from the preparedness during the Cold War. Two main parts of the system are the personal protective equipment (PPE) and the mobile units for decontamination. One part includes the stationary decontamination units in hospitals. Studies have been performed on these parts of the program. The results are under evaluation and will be presented. The PPE has been tested in different ways, was found to resist chemicals for a limited time, and is recommended to be used in combination with the charcoal garment. The test procedure and the results will be presented.The Swedish healthcare system and Swedish rescue services use both stationary and mobile decontamination units. The stationary units have been studied earlier with results pinpointing the need of strict regime while performing decontamination to obtain good results. In the case of mobile units, a corresponding study has been performed. The results indicate that those units have limitations: the time to assemble the unit, the flow of patients through the unit, the technical problems, and, most importantly, the results in terms of decontamination efficiency.In light of the above results, a new strategy to handle causalities contaminated by chemicals is being located. Strict rules will be developed for when and how decontamination should be done. Smaller units to perform a fast decontamination will be created, as well as techniques to transport still-contaminated patients to a hospital, and a final decontamination will be performed before entering the hospital, which will be of no risk to ambulance personnel.

The triple disaster in March 2011 tragically and severely affected the Japanese society, in spite of its well-developed infrastructure and good access to resources. A multitude of Japanese and international reports have since described the chain of events and actions taken in connection with the earthquake, the tsunami and the power plant failure in Fukushima. In order to further evaluate Japanese experiences of the disaster, and to bring home 'lessons-learnt' of relevance for continued emergency preparedness planning, a group from the National Board of Health and Welfare and other Swedish agencies performed an observer visit to Japan in 2012. A report from the group was recently published. Its main conclusions, and implications focusing on a strengthened national medical preparedness for radionuclear events in Sweden (and possibly elsewhere), are presented here.

Abstracts -14th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicinesituation and evaluated their own performance. Job identification and responsibility are essential for both senior and junior staff morale and functioning. Organization (information flow, orderly work, and task allocation) is critical in coping with chaotic situations like that generated by the tsunami. Team cohesiveness makes them better able to withstand prolonged exposure to the stresses generated by severe disaster. Positive thinking and orientation towards the future gives people strength and motivation to keep working. Those who had volunteered for the disaster team were found to be more supportive and immunizing than those who had been asked to work with the team. Technical problems (such as the language barrier vis-a-vis the tourists were a cause of stress and the elimination of such problems (through the position of translators in healthcare facilities) alleviated that stress.