First responders to a radiological emergency

[patrice.poisson]

Hi
I am a French firefighter officer (battalion chief), director of the hazmat and CBRN Team of the Pyrenees-Atlantiques Fire Department. I am the technical advisor in technological and NRBC risks for the fire chief and the Governor.
I am currently student in university with the Army Medical Service (School of Val-de-Grace) in Paris. I am preparing a university degree (master) about nuclear and radiological risks. I have to make a publication whose theme is: Support for first responders in radiological attacks or emergencies - Development of operational procedures (police – medical – fire department).
I request to ask you if you have established procedures for management of your personnel during radiological emergencies or for dirty bomb attacks.
Thank you for your help.

[johnsb]

Well this may not help much, but maybe you'll get a laugh out of it. The Lieutenant of the engine company that I used to be assigned to, would often tell us that if we were sent on an incident like a major CBRNE incident, the drivers' responsibiliy would be to crash the truck into the first big tree we came to....

[EMAGUY]

Patrice:

I believe I have just what you need to help with your university project. I'm providing links associated with the US Department of Energy's (USDOE) Transportation Emergency Preparedness Program (TEPP). The links will direct you to a variety of policies and procedures covering:

1. First Responders Initial Response Procedure http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Mo..._Procedure.pdf

2. Hazardous Materails Team Incident Response Procedures http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Ha...t_Response.pdf

3. EMS Procedure for Handling a Radioactively Contaminated Patient http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Patient_Handling.pdf

4. Medical Examiner/Coroners Guide to Handling Radioactively Contaminated Body/Human Remains http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Me...er_Coroner.pdf

5. Fire Department and Hazardous Materials Team Radioactive Material Decontamination Procedure http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Mo..._Procedure.pdf

6. Model Emergency Plan Annex http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Model_Annex.pdf

7. Model Recovery Plan http://www.teppinfo.com/resources/Model_Recovery.pdf

I am a former chief officer and have worked in the fire department at a US Department of Energy facility. Also, I have experience as an county government emergency manager; my county was impacted by a nuclear electric generating plant and a US DOE nuclear weapons facility. I am positive I have many other documents which may help with your publication, including model needs assessments for emergency responders to determine what they lack to respond to radiological emergencies and several different exercise packages that could be used to test or evaluate the organizations plans, policies, procedures, and training for responding to radiological emergencies.

Please let me know if you'd like additional assistance with the Radiological Dispersal Device response procedures and I will provide an email address to you.

Thank you for reaching out across the Atlantic to your American firefighting friends. Good luck with your university studies!

[EMAGUY]

Patrice:

I'm unsure if you've visited the board since you posted your request for information and assistance. If you're still working on your project, I'm recommending an additional resource. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) developed a guidance document, "Manual for First Responders to a Radiological Emergency". http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publica...ponder_web.pdf

The document should provide some great guidance for your project. Also, the IAEA document is more "global friendly" than the US Department of Energy documents I referenced. The DOE documents are more focused toward emergency services personnel in the United States.