Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

March 23, 2011

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Outline: Planning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

• Planning Guidance– DHS Planning Guidance (1 August 2008)– Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear

Detonation, 2nd Edition (June 2010)

• Infrastructure Effects– Cascading Effects impacting Communications– Continuity Policy

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

PLANNING GUIDANCEFOR RESPONSE TO NUCLEAR DETONATIONS

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-17694.pdf

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

DHS Planning Guidance

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

DHS Planning Guidance

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation

Express consideration of:• Shelter and Evacuation• Medical Care• Population Monitoring

& Decontamination• Public Preparedness –

Emergency Public Information

7

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Zoned Approach• Light Damage (LD) Zone: Windows

broken, mostly minor injuries that are highly survivable even without immediate medical care.

• Moderate Damage (MD) Zone: Significant building damage and rubble, downed utility poles, overturned automobiles, fires, many serious injuries. Early medical assistance can significantly improve number of survivors.

• Severe Damage Zone: Most buildings destroyed, hazards and radiation initially prevents entry into the area, low survivor likelihood

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Key Points to Zoned Approach

1. Save lives AND manage risks to responders.

2. Plan response from the outside in.

3. Train responders in basic radiation safety & measurement.

4. Focus early lifesaving actions in the moderate damage (MD) zone.

5. Within LD zone, initially focus on severe injuries only.

6. Within MD zone, response operations have many hazards.

7. Early medical response activities should focus on medical triage with full consideration of radiation dose minimization.

8. Response within the severe damage SD zone should not be attempted until radiation dose rates have dropped.

9. Response activities should be guided by lethal radiation hazards within the DF zone.

10. The most important mission in the DF zone is communicating protective action orders to the public..

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Key points to Zoned Approach (cont)

11. Urban search and rescue will be most effective in the MD zone, in non-radiologically contaminated areas.

12. Decontamination efforts should be limited to those locations that are absolutely necessary to use or occupy to enable life saving, including emergency infrastructure and infrastructure that might facilitate life saving (e.g., emergency gas line shutdown).

13. Decontamination of critical infrastructure should be initiated only when basic information becomes available regarding fallout distribution, current and projected radiation dose rates, and structural integrity of the elements to be decontaminated.

14. Standard health physics instruments and alternative radiation detection systems can be used to enhance detection capabilities.

15. All radiation detection systems should be used within their functional limits and design specifications.

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Dangerous Fallout• Dangerous Fallout is delimited by a

10R/h line.

• Descends within 24 hours.

• Footprint is generally defined within one to two hours

• Varies by yield, winds, weather, detonation altitude/depth.

• The 7-10 Rule: For every sevenfold increase in time, there is a tenfold decrease in radiation rate

• Note the relatively rapid retreat of the 10 R/h line over time.

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

The Radiation TReatment, TRansport, and TRiage (RTR) Concept

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

INFRASTRUCTURE EFFECTS

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Infrastructure Effects

• Direct Physical Effects– Blast– Thermal– EMP– Combined Effects

• Cascading Effects

• Human Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Critical Infrastructure of Immediate Concern in Response Operations

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Bridging the Gaps: Public Health and Radiation Emergency PreparednessPlanning Guidance and Infrastructure Effects

Synergy with Continuity Policies• Continuity of Operations Capabilities

– Support for National Essential Function 6– Special Roles of Water, Power, and

Communications Sectors– Healthcare and Public Health– Emergency Services

• Relationship to National Response Emergency Support Functions– ESF 2 Communications– ESF 3 Engineering and Public Works– ESF 10 Energy– ESF 14 Long Term Community Recovery