It seems health departments need to reevaluate their disaster readiness, as results of a new survey show that states don't have the ability or preparation to handle "major radiation emergency incidents." The results were published in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.
In fact, at least 70 percent of public health departments have undergone little or no planning for nuclear emergencies as unintentional exposures or intentional exposures, the Wall Street Journal reports. And 82 percent have either minimal or no plans to collect biological or clinical samples to evaluate radiation exposure.
States with nuclear power plants were better prepared, though "gaps were evident in all states," the survey found. State health departments also admitted they lack resources needed to maintain disaster preparedness.
"Despite long-standing awareness of the threat of unintentional releases of radioactivity within our communities, in general, less than half of the states reported having a written plan or detailed plan of operations for responding to releases, with the exception of plans for releases associated with roadway incidents," the report states.
And in the age of EHR, healthcare organizations must make sure data is backed up and can be accessed if and when disaster occurs, notes Information Week.
For more:
- view the study abstract
- here's the Wall Street Journal article
- here's an Information Week article