As part of C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (Program), contractors must have an emergency response process. Additionally, the Program has created a specialized group, the Radiation Injury Treatment NetworkSM (RITNSM). RITN was developed to respond to a potential disaster such as radiation exposure or other injuries to the bone marrow (such as those caused by sulphur mustard). The marrow creates new blood-forming cells each and every day. If the marrow is injured and cannot do this, a person may need a bone marrow or cord blood transplant.
The RITN is comprised of transplant centers, donor centers and cord blood banks spread throughout the country. The RITN:
- Develops treatment guidelines
- Educates health care professionals
- Assists participating centers in developing response plans
- Trains participating centers
- Strives to improve center readiness
RITN Training
The RITN has identified and provided training information to its network of donor centers, transplant centers and cord blood banks that have agreed to be part of RITN. All other Program centers and banks are informed about RITN and may be asked to help during an emergency that exceeds the response capabilities of the RITN.
Each facility includes the RITN Acute Radiation Syndrome treatment guidelines as part of their treatment procedures. Annually, each RITN center participates in a situational exercise to assess and improve plans and procedures as well as assess and improve staff response.
RITN Center Locations
Centers are organized in ten regions across the United States. Each region has primary and secondary facilities for redundancy. Some are pediatric centers.
How RITN was Developed
The RITN was developed through the cooperative efforts of the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT). The NMDP and ASBMT collaborated with:
- Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research (ONR)
- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research® (CIBMTR)
- Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- National Library of Medicine-Radiation Event Medical Management (NLM-REMM)
- U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS)
- Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations, Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Physicians at the forefront of bone marrow and cord blood transplantation
