Understanding casualty willingness to undergo decontamination in Hazmat/CBRN incidents: scenario development through expert elicitation
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Long, Francis
Majumdar, Arnab
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Effective management of hazardous materials (hazmat) and chemical, biological, radi-ological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents depends not only on technical capabilities but also on human behaviour. A critical challenge in mass decontamination operations is the potential for casualties to leave the scene before receiving treatment, increasing personal risk and the likelihood of secondary contamination. Despite its operational significance, little is known about the behavioural variables that influence whether casualties remain on scene. This paper presents a structured scenario development methodology, grounded in expert elicitation, to identify the key factors affecting casualty compliance during mass decontamination. A modified Delphi-inspired approach was used to design realistic scenarios that will inform future behavioural studies. The findings contribute to a more robust evidence base for emergency planning by integrating psychosocial variables into operational assumptions for hazmat/CBRN response.
Date Issued
2026-05-16
Date Acceptance
2026-05-11
Citation
Fire, 2026, 9 (5)
ISSN
2571-6255
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Fire
Volume
9
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
License URL
Identifier
10.3390/fire9050206
Subjects
CBRN
mass decontamination
casualty behaviour
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 2025