General Measures: Preparation

At the planning stage, consideration must be made for command/control issues, nominating organisation responsibility, personnel training, notification criteria and obtaining appropriate equipment such as protective clothing.

In most emergency departments (EDs), senior medical and nursing staff will have chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) training and will be familiar with the response plan and equipment for that hospital. Information can accessed on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) website (see Further Reading and Activites in Resources).

The safety officer or a deputy for the radiotherapy department should be involved in a significant radiation incident.

Learning bite

The safety officer for the radiotherapy department should be involved.