EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS HIGHWAY ACCIDENTS

A specialized training course to satisfy highway patrol needs called First-On-Scene Radiological Response Training for Law Enforcement Personnel (FOS-LE) is described. The course is limited to a maximum of 18 participants per class. The first 3 days of the 4-day course consist of classroom instruction and field training. The fourth day is devoted to emergency response field exercises. The course was designed to provide officers with basic understanding of radiation protection, methods of prevention of contamination spread from an accident scene, ability to use radiation detection equipment, and basic decontamination procedures. The course attempts to eliminate the mystery associated with radiation and impart a better understanding of it. The biological effects and hazards of exposure are taught as also the ability to identify the presence of radioactive materials (RAM) in a vehicle as well as radioactive material markings. Hands-on experience with respirators, gamma monitoring exercises, and staged scenarios involving RAM transported by motor vehicles are included. A field exercise involving a high-level radiation source is included in the course. A radiation monitoring kit is issued to each participant. A spin-off of this course is one designed for firefighters.

• Corporate Authors:

  International Association of Chiefs of Police

  11 Firstfield Road
  Gaithersburg, MD  United States  20760
• Authors:
  • Sparks, R L
• Publication Date: 1984-7

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 65-67
• Serial:
  • POLICE CHIEF
  • Volume: 51
  • Issue Number: 7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Disaster preparedness; Disasters and emergency operations; Electromagnetic radiation; Hazardous materials; Monitoring; Police; Radioactive materials; Training
• Uncontrolled Terms: Emergency response
• Old TRIS Terms: Marking; Respirators
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00392280
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-037 398
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 1985 12:00AM