RE: Primary Response to Medical Emergencies

["Somerville, Mark" <MOS3@pge.com>]

Wade,
Most power plant emergency plans of which I am aware call for "blind" first
aid.  This means that life saving actions are taken without regard to
contamination.

Local agreements allow us to transport contaminated injured personnel to
local hospitals.  They, the hospitals,  are provided with equipment to
handle the patient and recover from potential contamination of the facility.

There is a general rule of thumb that attempted decontamination of an
individual prior to movement to a medical care facility will not be
undertaken unless contamination levels are in excess of 1 rad per hour, on
the person.  If I dig I could probably find the basis for that value but I
don't know it off hand.
Mark Somerville

Certified Health Physicist
PG&E Diablo Canyon Power Plant
Senior Radiation Protection Engineer
NVLAP Technical Director
(805) 545-4007
mailto:mos3@pge.com


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