External decontamination Typical sequence and priorities are Removing clothing and external debris Decontaminating wounds before decontaminating intact skin Cleaning the most contaminated areas first Using a radiation survey meter to monitor progress of decontamination Continuing decontamination until areas are below 2 to 3 times background radiation or there is no significant reduction between decontamination efforts Clothes are removed carefully to minimize the spread of contamination and placed in labeled containers.