Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response
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Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response: Radiation emergency
After the terrorist attack of 9/11, civilian and government experts identified the need for updating and enhancing hospital-based emergency preparedness plans for dealing with a possible radiologic accident or attack. Staffs in the Emergency Department (ED) are essential during any public catastrophe given that victims will go straight to hospital EDs as the primary access to the health care system (Pae, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to describe radiation poisoning, a disaster that could occur in my community, and to describe how the professional nurse uses clinical judgment and decision-making skills to provide appropriate nursing care, and other health care professionals that might be involved in an emergency or response are described. Moreover, the strategies that could be used to improve my community’s response to the identified disaster are described.
Role of the Nurse
I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee and my community is surrounded by several nuclear plants. A nuclear power plant accident in this area would certainly result in radiation emergency. During a radiation emergency, the nurse may ask people to get in a building and take shelter for some time rather than leaving. The building’s walls could block much of harmful radiation (Considine & Mitchell, 2010). A person is considered as being externally contaminated whenever his/her clothing, hair or skin comes into contact with radioactive materials in the form of liquid, powder, or dust. A person is considered internally contaminated whenever he/she breathes in or swallows radioactive materials, or when such materials get into his/her body via an open wound or are absorbed via the skin (Considine & Mitchell, 2010).
In a radiation emergency, nursing staff members provide staffing in the ED, operating room, as well as other areas inside the hospital. They also assist in decontamination, treating the victims, as well as provision of psychological support to the victims under the direction of hospital staff, ED staff, and radiation safety staff (Slepski, 2014). The nurses also assist physicians with medical procedures, collecting specimens, and radiological monitoring. Furthermore, nurses assess the needs of patients and intervene appropriately (Sheikh et al., 2012). The ED nurse supervisor is the main personnel who is responsible for activating radiation event hospital protocol. The ED nurse supervisor assures that the different facets of the pre-approved radiation event protocol are implemented correctly (Slepski, 2014).
In a radiation emergency, the ED doctor assigned to trauma cases is the ED personnel with the responsibility of caring for patients. The physician assures that surgical and medical care is administered in a manner that is both effective and timely. The emergency physicians also diagnose, treat, and offer emergency medical care and can function as triage officers or team coordinators (Wetter, Daniell & Treser, 2010). Other healthcare professionals that might be involved in a response to radiation emergency include: nuclear medicine personnel – this helps th...