RE: Instrumentation for Emergencies -Reply

[BRZGV@CCMAIL.CECO.COM (Glen Vickers)]

The applicability to this message is transportation accidents...the probability
of an acitvated metals cask (internals kR/hr) opening up enough to provide dose
rates immediately dangerous to the lives of rescuers is negligible.  Save the
person who is dying in the cab.

Sincerely
Glen

-----Original Message-----
From:     Mike McNaughton <mcnaught@lanl.gov> at INTERNET
Sent:     Friday, August 07, 1998 6:21 PM
To:     Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu> at INTERNET
Subject:     RE: Instrumentation for Emergencies -Reply

You said
>Sorry, folks, but we should never support answer c, no matter how high
>the dose rate seems to be.  Complete the med rescue first, and move
>injured away from the area.

The original said
>> ... for extremely high dose rates:
>>c. Do nothing until the experts arrive.

We use an instrument that reads up to 1,000 R/hr. Our training says:
if the dose rate is off scale, >1,000 R/hr: leave immediately, there is
GRAVE DANGER, supervisors in consultation with RCTs will make a plan, only
volunteers fully informed of the risk may proceed.

The victim has been receiving >1,000 R/hr for some time before the rescuers
arrive. You don't know how much greater than 1,000 R/hr it is. A previous
example like this was SL-1; the victim had no chance.

"Shlala gashle" (Zulu greeting, meaning "Stay safe")
mike (mcnaught@LANL.GOV)


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