During field operations, which zones constitute a standard CBRN decontamination corridor, and what is the typical flow direction through them?

• A. Cold zone, warm zone, hot zone (decon corridor) with control points and personnel flow from hot to cold.
• B. Hot zone, cold zone, warm zone with flow from cold to hot.
• C. Green zone, yellow zone, red zone with random flow.
• D. Administrative zone only.

Answer: (A)

The decontamination corridor in field CBRN operations is built as three zones that move a person from the contaminated area to a clean area: hot zone (contaminated), warm zone (the decontamination area with control points), and cold zone (clean). The warm zone is where decon with PPE doffing, showering or wash procedures, and verification happen before anyone proceeds. The flow is directed from hot toward cold, so contamination is removed before entering the clean area and cross-contamination is prevented.

So, a corridor composed of cold, warm, and hot zones, with the movement of personnel from hot to cold, matches the standard setup. Other schemes that use random flow, or that omit the decon zone, don’t provide the same controlled, unidirectional process needed to prevent spread of contamination.