Management of Potentially Radioactively Contaminated Patients

During 2005 the Department of Health has made available new monitoring equipment to ambulance services, accident and emergency departments, and NHS walk-in centres in England.

Accident and emergency departments and NHS walk-in centres have received combined dose-rate / contamination monitors (RAM GENE-1 monitors). These devices may be used to screen casualties for radioactive contaminants, to reassure clinical staff that they are working in safe conditions, and to demonstrate that adequate decontamination of a patient has taken place before a patient is released from the A&E department. The materials and links contained on this page are presented to support this initiative.

RAM-GENE 1 monitor A&E / NHS walk-in centre training materials:

HPA training slide set and speaker's notes: (to download, right-click on the link and choose Save Target As)

• Introduction (PowerPoint Presentation, 144 KB)
  The management of radioactively contaminated/irradiated patients.
  
  
• Physics of ionising radiation (PowerPoint Presentation, 1 MB)
  Physics of ionising radiation
  
  
• Physics of ionising radiation (PDF, 531 KB)
  
  
• How to monitor for radioactive materials (PowerPoint Presentation, 2.4 MB)
  
  
• Managing the radioactively contaminated patient (PowerPoint Presentation, 382 KB)
  
  

RAM GENE-1standard operating procedures for A&E departments (produced by DH/HPA):

• Changing the battery (PDF, 71 KB)
  PROCEDURE: BATTERY CHANGE
  
  
• Checking the instrument (PDF, 62 KB)
  Procedure: routine instrument check
  
  
• Managing a potentially contaminated patient (PDF, 135 KB)
  PROCEDURE: ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED PATIENT
  
  
  
• HPA RAM GENE-1 maintenance record (PDF, 91 KB)
  
  
• Radioactive contamination / decontamination recording form v1.0 (PDF, 138 KB)
  RADIATION INCIDENT: CONTAMINATION and DECONTAMINATION RECORD FORM
  
  
• Training record form for use by NHS training department staff (PDF, 96 KB)
  RAM-GENE 1 Contamination Monitoring Equipment Training
  
  

Useful websites

• HPA Radiation Division homepage
• DH Emergency planning webpage
• HPA Emergency Preparedness & Response Training programme 
• RADSAFE - the consortium of organisations that offer mutual assistance in the event of a transport accident involving radioactive materials

Useful publications available to download from the internet

• HPA Radiation Division NAIR page (National Arrangements for Incidents Involving Radioactivity). This page provides a link to download or view the 2002 handbook
• IAEA/WHO Manual 'Generic procedures for medical response during a nuclear or radiological emergency'
• HPA Manual 'CBRN incidents: clinical management & health protection'