Medical intervention in a nuclear accident

Journal Article · Sat Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Hosp. Pract.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6963249

Rabin, S M

The medical care given to a victim of a radiation accident is one aspect of a larger emergency response that involves the establishment of control of the radiation source, prevention of secondary contamination of all persons having contact with the injured, organization of a general evacuation, and panic control. We have discussed the basic knowledge required to render medical care within the first few hours and days following an industrial nuclear incident. The fact that we have such knowledge should not be taken as an argument for the survivability of populations whose countries contemplate nuclear wars. At Chernobyl, radiation acutely injured about 300 persons and killed at least 31. And yet the enterprise needed to deal with the injured, the dying, and the evacuation of thousands taxed the medical resources of a superpower. Clearly, even the limited medical response available to physicians treating radiation victims rests on an infrastructure of facilities, equipment, drugs, transportation, communication, and organization that would surely be destroyed or severely incapacitated in a nuclear exchange.

• Research Organization: New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
• OSTI ID: 6963249
• Journal Information: Hosp. Pract.; (United States), Journal Name: Hosp. Pract.; (United States) Vol. 11; ISSN HOPRE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
560161 -- Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACCIDENTS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
EMERGENCY PLANS
INJURIES
MEDICINE
PERSONNEL
POST-IRRADIATION THERAPY
RADIATION ACCIDENTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION INJURIES
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
THERAPY