Hazardous materials response

specialists from Peachtree City and Fayette County got some down-and-dirty

training recently on scenarios they hope to never face.

But given today's climate

and threats of bioterrorism, it can't hurt to be prepared for treating

patients exposed to biological agents or other hazardous chemicals, officials

say. The Advanced Hazardous Materials Life Support class focused on how

to medically treat and decontaminate patients exposed to a gamut of compounds,

including chemicals from a biological weapon such as Ricin and something

as commonplace as gasoline.

The medics, and several emergency

room physicians from metro Atlanta, also learned how to identify what

a victim was exposed to based on their symptoms.

Dr. Brent Morgan, chief of

the medical toxicology program at Emory University, taught the class,

which also covered examples of recent incidents from across the country.

That way students could learn "what worked and what didn't,"

Morgan explained.

The medics also learned about

the various types of antidotes available which aren't necessarily

commonplace.

Although such incidents are

rare, "the criticality is very high," and it's important

to take the right steps to treat the patient, said Deputy Chief Allen

McCullough of the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services,

which hosted the class at the Fayette County Library.