The enemy employment of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons poses a great danger for collective defence military operations. For this reason, the Bundeswehr CBRNchemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) Defence Forces have experts who specialise in countering such hazards. One of their essential capabilities is decontamination, i.e. the removal of dangerous contaminants from personnel, vehicles, equipment, or surfaces.
CBRNchemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defence forces perform the decontamination and disinfection of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure, including the required water treatment. Thus, the entire process is in one hand. If servicemen and women or their equipment are polluted with agents, the CBRNchemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defence forces will decontaminate the person, the protective gear and all contaminated material and equipment. The focus is on restoring the operational capability of the contaminated unit as quickly as possible. Decontamination always follows a certain procedure and is divided into two subareas: personnel and materiel.
Personnel decontamination station
Decontamination is teamwork: Servicemen and women support each other in removing hazardous contaminations
Bundeswehr/Jane Schmidt
For personnel decontamination, the specialists of the Bundeswehr Joint Support Command will set up a personnel decontamination station, in which the personnel is decontaminated in several steps. At the first station, the persons are prepared for decontamination. This will either be done by CBRNchemical, biological, radiological, nuclear defence forces, or the persons concerned support each other in accordance with the “buddy principle”. First, the boots are cleaned, after that equipment and clothing are taken off and subsequently decontaminated. At the next station, the CBRNchemical, biological, radiological, nuclear protective mask is taken off and the personnel continue to the shower tent. At the last station, the personnel receives new clothing and equipment.
Decontamination of materiel
The operating equipment for decontamination is the TEP-90 field decontamination point
Bundeswehr/Susanne Hähnel
The decontamination of materiel is divided into four stations: At station one, preliminary treatment is conducted using water. The object – for example, a vehicle – is rinsed off. After that, the main treatment is conducted, which consists of spraying the vehicle with different decontaminants. The standard decontamination solution used is RDS 2000, which is capable of neutralising chemical and biological contamination. If other agents and hazards are suspected, the Bundeswehr can use other special decontaminants. Now, the decontaminant needs time to react to sufficiently decontaminate the surfaces. In the meantime, the interior of the vehicle is treated at station three. At the final station, follow-up treatment is performed. The vehicle is rinsed with clear water one more time and afterwards is ready to go.
