What are the three CBRNE zones?

• A. Exclusion Zone (Hot), Contamination Reduction Zone (Warm), Support Zone (Cold).
• B. Primary Zone, Secondary Zone, Tertiary Zone
• C. Red Zone, Yellow Zone, Green Zone
• D. Access Zone, Control Zone, Safe Zone

Answer: (A)

In CBRNE incident management, the scene is divided into three zones that reflect levels of contamination and safety: a hot or exclusion zone, a warm or contamination reduction zone, and a cold or support zone. The hot zone is the area where contamination is present and exposure risk is highest, so only trained personnel with proper PPE operate there. The warm zone sits outside the hot zone and is where decontamination happens and contaminated items are managed, reducing the spread of contaminants as responders move outward. The cold zone is the safe area where operations that don’t involve contamination occur—command, medical treatment, staging, and communications take place here because it’s free of contamination.

This option lists Exclusion Zone (Hot), Contamination Reduction Zone (Warm), and Support Zone (Cold), which matches the standard three-zone structure for handling CBRNE events, making it the correct choice.

Other naming schemes shown don’t align with this established three-zone approach, so they don’t fit the practical framework used for scene safety and decontamination.