Comments of First Response Action Levels

["Ken Smith" <ksmith@ucsc.edu>]

Hi Radsafers – 



 



I’m assisting my local county by setting up some new radiation pagers that they were able to recently obtain. 



 



They have purchased generic “pager-like” electronic dosimeters. The dosimeter is sensitive to only gamma radiation > 50 Kev. They record a deep-dose equivalent reading in 0.1 mrem increments. The dosimeter comes with 1 alert and 1 alarm for the dose rate measurement, and 1 alert and 1 alarm for the dose measurement. 



 



I’ve been searching for some recommend levels and actions to have them programmed at. Unfortunately its been very difficult to find federal or state standards for actions levels for first responders. Below is my attempt to set the alert and alarm levels. 



 



Your assistance is appreciated by sharing any comments that you may have. Also, pointing me towards some other know action levels would be great. 



 



ALERT AND ALARM LEVELS:



 



Beep:    



Every 0.1 mrem of dose  



Action: Just an alert to Emergency Response Personnel



Reference: N/A



 



Alert Dose Rate:



0.5 mrem/hr



Action: This is to indicate the presence of gamma radiation. Notify OES/DHS of radiation presence.



Reference: ~ 2x dosimeter background level. 



 



Alarm Dose Rate



2 mrem/hr



Action: Public exposure limit. Evacuate public from areas exceeding this level.



Reference: 10 CFR 20 non-occupation dose limit. 



 



Alert Dose



5000 mrem



Action: Trade out ER personnel for non-life saving activities



Reference: 10 CFR 20 occupation dose limit



 



 



Alarm Dose



50000 mrem



Action: Trade out ER personnel for life saving activities



Reference: NCRP 138 limit for emergency action.



 



 



Thanks



Ken



 



 



Ken Smith, CHP 



_____________________________________________________________________



Radiation Safety Officer / Laboratory Safety   voice: (831) 459-3911 



Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S)          cell: (831) 212-3911



University of California                         fax: (831) 459-3209 



1156 High St.                                 e-mail: ksmith@ucsc.edu



Santa Cruz, CA 95064                             web: ehs.ucsc.edu



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