Resources: Health Implications of a Radiation Emergency
The current radiation crisis in Japan – while having no immediate impact on public health in the U.S. – has spurred domestic health officials to bolster their knowledge of what to do in a radiation emergency.
Today – from noon to 2 pm ET – the American Medical Association will host a free webinar on radiation emergencies.
Webinar speakers include Mary Selecky, secretary of health for the state of Washington — which has detected low levels of radiation from the Japan crisis, but no health threat so far — and Doran Christensen, associate director of the Department of Energy’s Radiation Emergency Assistance Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Topics to be addressed include:
- Immediate and long-term public health responsibilities in a radiation emergency.
- Individual and group preparation for a radiation emergency.
- Different types of ionizing radiation and their medical implications.
- Diagnosis and treatment for radiation exposure.
Webinar participants will be able to ask questions of the speakers during the last half hour. The webinar will then be archived and available on the AMA website before the end of April.
A number of organizations and news outlets have ongoing resources to help understand what is unfolding in Japan.
- The Environmental Protection Agency is showing monitoring data for both air and water.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posts regular updates on the radiation emergency on its “What’s New” page.
- The New York Times has a dynamically updated topic page pulling together coverage of the situation in Japan.
- A series of hashtags on Twitter provide updates from news organizations and others on the ground in Japan (#fukushima, #radiation, #Japan)
