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MARQUETTE -- Chemical spills may happen only a few times a year in the U.P.  But Marquette General's Code Orange Team wants to make sure everyone is ready to handle them.  That's why at today's open house, they provided vital information for local businesses and gave them a tour of the decontamination areas.

"We're hoping to get their material chemical list from them so we can be prepared ahead of time so we don't have to look up what to do with the chemical. We'll have a checklist done already and then we can inform them where to show up, what numbers to call, that type of thing," says Code Orange Team Instructor Eric Williams.

And contacting the hospital is one of the first things a decontaminated person should do.

"The information that we put out there is that if there is a chemical spill to be sure to have somebody call if you're not able to call yourself.  Try to have the material safety data available for us so that we can research that.  Just an example is that if you get lime on you, you're not supposed to add water to that, so typically we would shower somebody when we decontaminate right away, but we wouldn't do that with lime," explains Code Orange Team member Ellen Greer.

When arriving at the hospital, a decontaminated person shouldn't enter the emergency department directly.  Instead, the entrance on Magnetic Street should be used; that's where the decontamination showers are, and that also keeps other patients safe.

"Just as an example, say it was diesel fuel and just the smell alone in a confined area would make it hard for the nurses and doctors to work on somebody, let alone someone else that was having breathing problems," Williams says.

The Code Orange Team has 25 members ready to assist, if and when an emergency arises.