7-11 July 2019
EV34 - PEP 1E: Integration of Health Physics into Emergency Response (Sugarman)Lake Highland B 08:00 - 10:00 |
| In the event of a radiation incident it is essential that the radiological situation is properly, yet rapidly, assessed so that a proper response can be planned. Various techniques can be employed to help gather the necessary information needed. There are many groups of responders that need to be considered such as law enforcement, EMS, fire, and healthcare providers. Most, if not all, of these groups have relatively little understanding of the realistic hazards associated with radiation. It is not always necessary to incorporate wholesale changes to the way things may usually be done in the absence of radioactive materials. For instance, law enforcement officers routinely incorporate stand-off distances when approaching a suspect or other dangerous situation. Firefighters are familiar with the use of protective clothing and respiratory protection. EMS and healthcare providers routinely incorporate contamination control practices – universal precautions and proper patient handling techniques – into their everyday jobs. Coupled with a good event history and other data, health physicists can help to develop a strategy for safely and effectively responding to a radiological event. Support duties can also include assessment of dose responders or patients and assistance with communication issues affecting incident response, medical care, or with external entities such as regulators and the media. As time goes on and more information, such as bioassay or biological dosimetry data, plume data, and other additional data is received the health physicist will be called upon to interpret that data and communicate its meaning to the decision-makers and otherwise advise incident command. It is, therefore, essential that health physicists are able to seamlessly integrate themselves into the response environment and effectively communicate their findings to a wide variety of people. |
