Radiological preparedness for EMS

[paramaniac]

Nationally we have an extensive network of CBRN (Chemical, Biological,Radiological, Nuclear) teams. Every geographical area has these teams on 24/7 standby.

EVERY frontline EMS worker has a personal Dosimeter ($800) with the relevant education.

All this in a service that's almost bankrupt, draw your own conclusions, when, not If.

[CivilDefense2002]

Medic2588: I am quite sure that they can detect radiation. I am not even doubting their ability to detect very small amounts. The problem is that the vast majority of "rad pagers" being sold and used by EMS, fire, and police are TOO sensitive. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem, but I'd say it is. What happens when emergency services has to operate in a situation where they cannot just run away from the situation.

Dr. Allen Brodsky, the former head of the Health Physics Society's Homeland Security committee, wrote an awesome article on the problem of emergency response guidelines that reflect overzealous regulatory standards rather than reality. Check out his article at http://www.radpro.com/RPMfront-22-4.pdf under letters to the editor.

CivilDefense2002

[Asysin2leads]

Richard B, the EMT: That sounds all good and well in some type of vacuum where nothing else is going on. What if it alarms while you are walking up to an obvious severely injured pt at an MVA? What about approaching the thyroid cancer pt who just had radioiodine thyroid ablation? Do we run away and leave them to their deaths until the "mop and glow men" show up in a few hours?

What I want to know is how "the powers that be" who buy these things think that somehow they do anything more than cause more confusion and problems than they even begin to solve. Why haven't they trained you - in a real class - at what dose and dose rate you will have to worry about breaking intentionally deflated regulatory limits, worry about increased risk of cancer 30 years down the road, or worry about acute radiation injury that can kill your fast-replicating cells and cause anemia and leukopenia in the short term? What's safe to go through to save property? To save lives? To save a school bus full of tiny schoolchildren and nuns? 8)

CivilDefense2002

To answer your question, if, at an MVA, radiation alarms start going off, yes, we will evacuate and wait for the Hazmat team. Its scene safety, and pretty much the first thing they teach you in EMT class. We have also had patients who have had radioiodine procedures done set off the radiation alarms. When they mention the testing, we usually get a good chuckle and go about our business.

Each EMS provider in the FDNY system is now trained to the level of Hazmat operations, and is given a "real class" regarding radiation source, type, rate, etc. To avoid confusion, you really should do some research into what training is available before you pass judgement on people's knowledge of radiological emergencies. In short, theory pretty much is that it is better to have the bus load of tiny schoolchildren nuns irradiated and maybe even some exsanguination on scene than irradiated nuns, irradiated paramedics, irradiated ambulances, and ER staff and maybe someone who didn't bleed to death. Hazmat is a scary subject, full of levels of acceptable losses and use of deadly force by police on people to prevent them from contaminating others. Losing the busload of nuns would be the least of our concerns in a large scale incident.

[CivilDefense2002]

Asysin2leads: I am not passing judgment on anyone's knowledge. My apologies if you thought so.

I am glad to hear you have good training. I have been doing my research, thank you. RADEF is most of what I am doing at the moment. At the Federal/State level there is the TEPP program from DOE, the "radiological series" (now just one class) from FEMA, courses from USDOJ-ODP, and of course local training. I know what's available around here locally, but I was curious as to what others have. You could say just another part of my research.

In any event, glad to hear you believe you are ready. Thanks for the clarification.

CivilDefense2002