On the Role of Poison Centers in Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Response Activities: Findings of the “Radiation Emergencies Public Health Roundtable” (Atlanta, GA—August 2012)

Abstract

After the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, the ensuing Japanese nuclear power plant emergency renewed concerns among officials and citizens of the USA about contamination with radioactive material and the need for medical countermeasures (MCMs) to protect the public's health. The nation's poison centers (PCs), particularly those on the West Coast, received 400 calls requesting information about protective actions for contamination with radioactive material and exposure to ionizing radiation. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts analyzed PC call data through the National Poison Data System (NPDS) in order to target communication messages effectively [1]. Poison centers are already used extensively by medical facilities, individual clinicians, and the general public to assess, triage, manage, and monitor known or suspected toxic exposures. Collectively, PCs receive more than four million exposure and information calls annually [2]. All calls are electronically reported to NPDS, a near real-time surveillance system maintained by the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) and CDC. As noted by CDC speakers at a March 2010 Public Health Grand Rounds session, there is a lack of sufficient radiation subject matter expertise, as well as a lack of education and training, in this topic within the public health community [3]. These shortcomings also apply to PC staff. Calls about radiation are not as frequent as calls about other topics; therefore, PC staff may lack sufficient knowledge of such topics as ionizing radiation, the health effects of radiation exposure, contamination with radioactive materials, and appropriate MCMs to treat each type of incident. The Health Studies Branch and Radiation Studies Branch are located within CDC's National Center for Environmental Health in Atlanta, Georgia. Staff from these two branches proposed to identify and discuss the existing knowledge gaps in radiation emergency preparedness and response among PC staff by organizing an educational session for PC professionals, followed by a roundtable discussion. Organizers envisioned the roundtable as a means of initiating a continuing dialogue between PCs and other public health entities about the current and potential roles that PCs can play during a radiation public health emergency. This paper briefly summarizes the roundtable and its main findings; a full report is available online at CDC's radiation emergencies Web portal.1