Radiation Safety Officers:
Information for Radiation Emergencies

Radiation Safety: Multimedia Library Response planning What kinds of emergencies? Develop a radiation response plan Develop a hospital medical response team Equip and emergency department for decontamination Personal protective equipment (PPE) Three phases of a response to an RDD or IND Responding to an RDD / RED Emergency: the HHS Playbook, guidance for executive decision makers within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the event of an actual radiological terrorist attack in a U.S. city. (HHS/ASPR, April 2010) Role of safety officers Miller CW, Whitcomb RC Jr, Ansari A, McCurley C, Guinn A, Tucker F. The roles of medical health physicists in a medical radiation emergency. Health Phys. 2007 Nov;93(5 Suppl):S187-90. [PubMed Citation] The Radiological Operations Support Specialist (ROSS): a new specialist Description: radiation protection specialist trained and exercised to prepare for, respond to, and recover from any radiological or nuclear incident. FEMA description of ROSS 3 levels of expertise (DHS/FEMA, October 2019) Irwin W, The ROSS: A Radiological/Nuclear Subject Matter Expert Filling a Critical National Need, Health Phys 2018;114(2):141-147. (Provides a detailed description of training and duties) [PubMed Citation] Overview and integration of 3 types of ROSS specialists into the radiation emergency response (PDF - 18 MB) (Dan Blumenthal, Ph.D., DOE) DHS Overview of ROSS responders (DHS) More radiation incident information for those training for ROSS certification is available to those who register and are accepted on RadResponder.net Clinical algorithms Isotopes of interest Medical countermeasures Decontamination procedures How to do a survey for radiation contamination Tools Radiation detection devices Training and Education Multimedia REMM Multimedia: Radiation Safety Basic radiation principles (HHS/CDC) Radiation Principles (YouTube - 1:52 minutes) (HHS/CDC) Types of Radiation (YouTube - 1:44 minutes) (HHS/CDC) Screening people for external contamination, use of radiation survey equipment (HHS/CDC) How to Use Hand-held Radiation Survey Equipment (Part 1) (YouTube - 19:02 minutes) (HHS/CDC) Ionization Chambers (Part 2) (YouTube - 2:50 minutes) (HHS/CDC) Alpha Scintillation Detectors (Part 3) (YouTube - 3:54 minutes) (HHS/CDC) Radiation Survey Instruments (YouTube - 8:51 minutes) (DOE/TEPP/MERRTT) Radiological Dosimetry (YouTube - 2:02 minutes) (DOE/TEPP/MERRTT) Body Chart for Recording Result of Radiation Survey (PDF - 49 KB) G-M Detectors Job Aid — Use a Geiger-Muller survey meter to check for contamination. One page pamphlet. (PDF - 429 KB) (HHS/CDC) Dose estimator for exposure Template for adult/pediatric orders Emergency contact information Software tools for radiation event response Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC) Coordinates and manages all federal radiological environmental monitoring and assessment activities during a nuclear or radiological incident, within the United States in support of state, local, tribal governments, DHS, and the federal coordinating agency. Blumenthal DJ, Clark HW, Essex JJ, Wagner EC. eFRMAC overview: data management and enabling technologies for characterization of a radiological release. Health Physics 2013;105(1):97-103. International Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) The single Federal source of airborne hazards predictions during an Incident of National Significance (INS). IMAAC is responsible for producing and disseminating predictions (and maps) of the effects from hazardous chemical, biological, and radiological releases (April 2005) Principles of Radiation Protection Selected list of organizations with information on radiation protection International Commission on Radiological Protection National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement Health Physics Society Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors Selected references Pocket Guide for Medical Physicists Supporting Response to Radiological Emergency (IAEA, 2020) Guidance for Emergency Response Dosimetry, (NCRP Report 179), National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD, 2017. Decision Making for Late-Phase Recovery from Major Nuclear or Radiological Incidents, (NCRP Report No. 175), National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD, 2014. Cooper JR; International Commission on Radiological Protection. Radiation protection principles. J Radiol Prot. 2012 Mar;32(1):N81-7. Epub 2012 Mar 6. [PubMed Citation] Menzel HG, Harrison J. Dosimetric quantities in radiological protection and risk assessment. J Radiol Prot. 2012 Mar;32(1):N41-6. Epub 2012 Mar 6. [PubMed Citation] Protective action guides (PDF - 1.48 MB) (EPA, January 2017) For response workers For public Radiation control zones and perimeters Annual limits of intake for radiation workers Understanding radiation REMM Bibliography Radiation Basics: Multimedia Library Radiation Safety: Multimedia Library Radiation dictionary See also: REMM Bibliography - Radiation Safety