Activists injured in protests aimed at G-8 summit delegates later this month will have immediate access to decontamination units and antidotes.
The Calgary Health Region has acquired five portable and inflatable decontamination units that will be stationed at the city's four hospitals and the 8th and 8th Health Centre downtown.
The units, which can be inflated in three minutes and can be operational in 30 minutes, are designed to cleanse people exposed to chemical and biological contaminants.
The CHR already has five permanent systems.
Each unit can process about 200 people. The $40,000 facilities can be connected together to provide a larger decontamination facility if necessary.
CHR staff have also developed antidotes to help infected people to recover.
"So if someone were exposed to anthrax or bacteria, we're going to treat the infection. If they were exposed to pesticides that work on the nervous system, we have agents that will reverse the effects," said Steve Long, CHR's director of pharmacy services.
Long said Friday that the regional health authority is prepared to help individuals exposed to biological germs like anthrax and such chemicals as insecticides, pesticides or nerve agents.
These antidotes will be made available in advance to emergency rooms and will be used to supplement supplies available to Emergency Medical Services.
The CHR also has increased quantities of drugs to reverse the effects of tear gas and pepper spray.
CHR staff will also be equipped with more than 1,900 pairs of chemical-resistant gloves, 600 pairs of boots, 750 respirators, 1,100 protective suits, 140 cooling vests and 1,100 patient-care kits that contain soap, disposable towels and protective coveralls.
Protesters are expected to arrive in Calgary and the Kananaskis region later this month for the G-8 summit. The meeting of world leaders will be held June 26 and 27 in Kananaskis Village, about 120 kilometres west of Calgary.
Ray Caddy, CHR's manager of occupational safety services, said most of the cases are expected to involve pepper spray.
About 650 health-care professionals have been trained to use the decontamination units, which look like large tents and hold two shower units.
Anyone infected would arrive at the unit and receive an antidote if necessary. He or she would then be sprayed with water, possibly dosed with baby shampoo or detergent.
The shower is necessary to cleanse external contaminants off clothes and the body to prevent the spread of any infection.
Caddy said the units will also help Calgarians who are exposed to contaminants in accidents.
"We're preparing for more than the G-8. We're preparing for any chemical incidents that happen in the city, like a lab accident.
"This type of equipment will work year-round for us," he said.
Norma Wood, CHR's G-8 summit project leader, said officials researched incidents at other protests around the world when they devised their readiness plan for this month.
"There are things like respiratory and skin ailments and sometimes injuries like sprained ankles from being in a crowd and being jostled around," she said.
"There tends to be fairly minor injuries associated with events of this kind."
At last year's G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, clouds of tear gas billowed into the air as activists protested the police shooting of one demonstrator. They threw firebombs at police lines.
In 1997, police pepper-sprayed protesters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vancouver.
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