International Training

REAC/TS Provides International Radiation Emergency Medical Response Training for Emergency Responders

In support of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s international approach to nuclear and radiological incident response, REAC/TS staff provide training to physicians, nurses and emergency responders in multiple countries each year. REAC/TS has conducted radiation emergency medical response training in Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand.

“As one of the world’s primary responders to nuclear and radiological accidents, it’s critical that REAC/TS help prepare a variety of health care professionals for the medical management of radiation accidents,” said REAC/TS Medical/Technical Director Dr. Albert Wiley. “Our medical professionals provide health care providers and first responders with the information they need to stabilize, handle, transport and care for others who may have been exposed to radiation.”

Known as I-Med, or International Medical Training, the courses feature topics such as basic physics and radiation protection; basic radiation instrumentation; radiobiology; the medical aspects of acute-local and whole-body irradiation; treatment for internal contamination; early dose magnitude estimation; pre-hospital and hospital patient management; as well as patient decontamination demonstrations.

In 2012, more than 350 medical professionals and administrators attended the courses, which are funded by NNSA. Each year, more than 1,000 people from the medical, health physics and first responder communities benefit from lectures, demonstrations, and drills based on REAC/TS’ experience in radiation emergency medicine.