Emergency room guidelines. Providing services to victims of toxic spills.

Guidelines for developing hospital policies and procedures to provide emergency services in cases involving chemical accident victims have been developed under the auspices of the Hospital Disaster Committee of the Seattle Area Hospital Council. The proposed guidelines are consistent with the standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, hospital internal and external disaster management plans and the recent requirements for hazard communications (Right-to-Know). Although medical care of the patient is not a primary purpose of the guidelines, some of the procedures, such as identification of the type of chemicals involved, will aid in direct patient care.