Emergency personnel trained earlier this month at the Bay County Emergency Operations center on using the e-mist surface management system (SMS). Representatives from the Bay County Health Department also attended the training session.
The Bay County Hazardous Materials Team can use the e-mist SMS to respond to meningitis and Ebola outbreaks, Bay County Fire Rescue Lt. and Hazardous Materials Team member Seth Imhof said. The e-mist SMS, which operates like a spray gun, was acquired through a federal grant.
It can spray and apply any water-soluble liquid agent, including sanitizers, disinfectants, deodorizers and cleaners, according to information supplied at the training seminar. It uses electrostatics, which is a process of adding an electric charge to the liquid droplets when they are sprayed.
“This makes the droplet electrically stronger than the surface or item you are treating,” an information packet from the session said. “Just like magnets. They are drawn to each other and attach when one surface is more positively charged than the other.”
An advantage of the e-mist SMS its mobility and its potential for use in many different areas, Bay County Health Department Director Doug Kent said. Decontaminating an area can take only a few minutes with the e-mist SMS ,as opposed to the previous period of an hour, Imhof said.
The Bay County Health Department and Bay County Hazardous Materials Team “continue to work together to strengthen response capabilities and keep our population safe,” Chief of Emergency Services Mark Bowen said.
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