Managing Hazardous Materials Incidents (MHMIs)

The MHMI series is a three volume set (with a video) comprised of recommendations for on-scene (prehospital), and hospital medical management of patients exposed during a hazardous materials incident.

• Volume I – Emergency Medical Services: A Planning Guide for the Management of Contaminated Patients are planning guides to assist first responders in planning for incidents that involve hazardous materials.
• Volume II – Hospital Emergency Departments: A Planning Guide for the Management of Contaminated Patients are planning guides to assist hospital emergency department personnel in planning for incidents that involve hazardous materials.
• Volume III – Medical Management Guidelines (MMGs) for Acute Chemical Exposures are guides for health care professionals who treat persons who have been exposed to hazardous materials.
• Video – Community Challenge: Hazardous Materials Response and the Emergency Medical System is a training video for Volumes I & II.

The MHMI series was developed to provide emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and hospital emergency departments (EDs) with the necessary guidance to plan for, and improve their ability to respond to, incidents that involve human exposure to hazardous materials. The guidelines inform emergency personnel how to appropriately decontaminate, treat, and recommend follow-up care to exposed persons, as well as take measures to protect themselves.

The Medical Management Guidelines (MMGs) for Acute Chemical Exposures were developed by ATSDR to aid emergency department physicians and other emergency healthcare professionals who manage acute exposures resulting from chemical incidents. The MMGs are intended to aid healthcare professionals involved in emergency response to effectively decontaminate patients, protect themselves and others from contamination, communicate with other involved personnel, efficiently transport patients to a medical facility, and provide competent medical evaluation and treatment to exposed persons.

You can view a complete list of MMGs on the MMG home page.

Community Challenge: Hazardous Materials Response and the Emergency Medical System is a training video for Volumes I & II. It is 50 minutes long; 25 minutes for each volume. It is not currently available on our web site, but may be obtained by healthcare professionals in CD-ROM format by contacting ATSDR.

Managing Hazardous Material Incidents (MHMI). Volumes 1, 2 , and 3. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2001. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.