While there are a variety of different approaches to decontamination, the better standard operating procedures are built around some basic principles:
Contaminated people and equipment generally flow from the dirty end (area of highest contamination) to the clean end (area of least contamination). As an analogy one can take an automated car wash, where the dirty car enters in one end and it comes out clean at the other end.
Decontamination requires a multiple step process to reduce contaminants to an acceptable level. There are two main reasons for adopting a multi-step cleaning process:
Conducting all of the cleaning process at one station concentrates all of the contamination in one area.
The more things one can clean in the same spot, the greater the contamination level becomes.
Multiple decontamination stations are more effective. The further along the decontamination line the Emergency Responder progress, the cleaner he should become
Supplies and equipment needed in the decontamination area should flow from the uncontaminated (clean) side) to the contaminated (dirty) side.