Radiation Injury with Dr. Calhoun

Cincinnati is 190 miles away from the nearest nuclear power plant

Types of ionizing radiation: UV, x-ray, alpha, beta, gamma

rad = absorbed radiation dose

rem = radiation absorbed corrected for the type of radiation

There is a difference between being irradiated and contaminated

Irradiated means that you were near radiation exposure but did not touch it. These patients are not harmful to the health care providers Equivalent to smelling a foul smell (i.e. dog poop) - Can't pass the smell on to someone else

Contaminated means that you physically have radioactive material on your body or clothes. Clothes removal will take care of majority of this, but the providers should wear PPE Equivalent to stepping in something foul smelling (i.e. dog poop) - Can pass on the contamination to someone else



Acute radiation syndrome has several stages:

Prodrome: N, V, D, anorexia (minutes to days) Latent stage (hours to weeks) Manifest illness: symptoms are highly variable and nonspecific (hours to months) Recovery or death

Higher dose of radiation leads to more rapid progression of symptoms

Burns from radiation become evident several days after exposure because exposure in itself is not painful

If there is concern for radiation exposure, stay indoors unless there is an evacuation order

Potassium iodide: reduces risk of thyroid cancer in face of radiation exposure