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Health & Fitness

Reception Centers Used During Sandy Are Like Those Used for a Rad Disaster

Many people who had to relocate to one of the two County shelters during Super Storm Sandy began their journey at a municipal Reception Center. Disaster Reception Centers, often established at large public schools, receive and register evacuees, determine medical and other needs, and then send them to a public shelter. When Sandy hit some of these Reception Centers became shelters.

This is also how evacuees would be processed during a radiological or nuclear attack, or like the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that happened three years ago today - but with additional steps for mass monitoring and decontamination.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted a look at what would happen at a Community Reception Center during a radiological event. The Virtual Community Reception Center (vCRC) uses video and interactive features to show how people would move through the stations and what services each station would provide.

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The CDC has designed a template for seven basic stations that would process people through a Community Reception Center, from their arrival in the Contamination Control Zone, to their departure from the Clean Zone. They have even modified it for pets.

While registration was one of the first steps in the Reception Centers used during Sandy, and for the H1N1 vaccination clinics in 2009, it is one of the last steps in a Reception Center designed for a radiological event. The initial focus is on medical treatment and decontamination. The first four stations take place in the Contamination Control Zone: Initial Sorting, First Aid, Contamination Screening, and Wash. The remaining three stations are set up in the Clean Zone: Registration, Radiation Dose Assessment, and Discharge.

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During Initial Sorting, people are rapidly screened for high levels of radioactive contamination. Those who have successfully decontaminated themselves at home, by removing their clothes and showering, will be directed to the express lane for Registration. Generally, because of the scope of this kind of response, most people will have been advised to shelter at home in their basement, if they have one, and to decontaminate themselves.

Those who are contaminated but not injured will be directed to Contamination Screening where Portal Monitors and hand-held survey instruments will be used to conduct partial or full body screening to detect the most contaminated areas of the body. From there, they will go to the Wash station, where they will remove their clothing, have personal items screened and bagged, shower, and be screened again.

After decontamination, they will proceed to registration where their record will become part of a Registry of dose and medical information used for long-term follow-up. At the Radiation Dose Assessment station, they may be screened for internal contamination, and have blood or urine samples taken. At the Discharge station, they will be sent home or to a shelter, after receiving medical referrals, mental health counseling, or medication distributed through the Strategic National Stockpile program.

This layout is just a starting point. Additional stations will be added for decontaminating or storing contaminated vehicles. There will need to be command and logistics posts. And there will always be a need to adapt to unforeseeable circumstances, as happened during Sandy.

More Information

We need to plan for the unthinkable without being fatalistic. The National Alliance for Radiation Readiness is a coalition of public health, healthcare, and emergency management organizations that provide a lot to read about radiological readiness. Even a business and a tabloid website have done remarkable outreach.

The NJ Department of Health advises that:

“Your community should have a plan in place in case of a radiation emergency. Check with community leaders to learn more about the plan and possible evacuation routes. Check with your child’s school, the nursing home of a family member, and your employer to see what their plans are for dealing with a radiation emergency.”

But the Government Accounting Office reported a few months ago that cities still need more federal guidance to effectively respond to nuclear and radiological attacks.

Three More Blogs About Radiologicial Preparedness

Regarding radiation dose and health effects, there are Dialogue not Debates About Cancer and Radiation Would Improve Disaster Preparedness; and Radiological Preparedness Needs More Funding for Molecular Biology Research, Better Outreach.

For two legislative changes that could improve radiological planning outside of the two 10-mile Emergency Planning Zones in NJ - a map of the EPZs is on PDF page 15 of this NJDEP report - read One Year After Sandy, Two Wishes.

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Pictures:

NJDEP Bureau of Nuclear Engineering Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Section Annual Update January 1, 2005 - December 31, 2005 http://www.state.nj.us/dep/rpp/download/05annual.pdf

Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM) Contamination/Decontamination: Multimedia Library http://www.remm.nlm.gov/imagegallery_cat4.htm

CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/images/icon_selfDecam_others.png

Minnesota Radiation Emergency Volunteers (MREV) http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/radiation/radioactive/mrev.html

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