Contact No 175 - October December 2001
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has produced a three-volume series entitled Managing Hazardous Material Incidents. The series is designed to help emergency response and health care professionals plan for and respond to hazardous material emergencies.
- Volume I Emergenc...y Medical Services: A Planning Guide for the Management of Contaminated Patients
- Volume II Hospital Emergency Departments: A Planning Guide for the Management of Contaminated Patients
- Volume III Medical Management Guidelines for Acute Chemical Exposures
Volumes I and II are planning guides to assist first responders and hospital emergency department personnel in planning for incidents that involve hazardous materials.
Volume III is a guide for health care professionals who treat persons who have been exposed to hazardous materials.
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"Patient decontamination principles are set forth here from a strategic perspective, rather than a tactical
one. The principles are meant to guide, but not specify, operational practices. The guidance is evidencebased
to the extent possible and the supporting evidence is documented and briefly dis...cussed."
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Successful detonation of an improvised nuclear device (IND) would be a catastrophic event, causing an unprecedented number of injuries and lives lost, as well as economic, political, and social disruption. However, an effective medical response and an infrastructure prepared to protect itself from f...allout could save tens of thousands of lives. Since 2001, all levels of government, academic institutions, and professional organizations have done significant work to enhance our ability to prepare for and respond to a nuclear detonation. The following manual is intended to simplify and translate the necessary protective actions and medical response modalities in order to make them more accessible and easier to translate into practice. The approach of this manual is to provide a common baseline application for various allied response disciplines (to include senior operational responders, emergency managers, public health advisors, and municipal, State, and Federal executives and elected officials). This manual will enhance mutual understanding of the basics of nuclear response.
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Detonation of a nuclear weapon or activation of a radiological dispersal device could cause radioactively contaminated decedents. These guidelines are designed to address both of these scenarios. They could also be applicable in other instances where decedents’ bodies are contaminated with radioa...ctive material (e.g. reactor accidents, transportation accidents involving radioactive material, or
the discharge of a decedent from a hospital after injection or implantation of a radiopharmaceutical). These guidelines suggest ways for medical examiners, coroners, and morticians to deal with loose surface contamination, internal contamination, or shrapnel on or in decedents’ bodies.
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"The Emergency Response Guidelines for Anhydrous Hydrogen Fluoride (Guidelines) were prepared
by the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Hydrogen Fluoride Panel (Panel). This document is
intended to provide general information to persons addressing an emergency response in the course
of handling... and transporting anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF)."
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"The aim of this book remains as for the first edition, namely to provide an initial point of ready
reference for the identification of hazards and precautions for dangerous chemicals. It is targeted
not only at those in the chemical and process industries, but also anyone likely to work with
che...micals within industry and in the service sector, e.g. hospitals, universities, research laboratories,
engineering, agriculture, etc. "
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Effective risk communication requires the alignment of complex factors including trust between the communicator and the audience(s), audience involvement, and emotional responses to risk. Risk communication is especially challenging now as new media changes the landscape for both
communicators and... their audiences. Viewed as a discussion of the most important findings for risk communicators and managers, this report delves into research-driven recommendations for effective risk communication practices.
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A guidebook intended for use by first responders
during the initial phase of a transportation incident
involving dangerous goods/hazardous materials
Un guide destiné aux premiers intervenants sur les mesures
d’urgence au cours de la phase initiale d’un incident de transport
mettant en cause des marchandises dangereuses
Una guía destinada al uso de los primeros respondedores
durante la fase inicial de un incidente en el transporte que
involucre mercancías peligrosas / materiales peligrosos
A manual for people working in environments contaminated by landmines and other explosive hazards including improvised explosive devices.