The U.S. healthcare system is thoroughly unprepared to cope with a catastrophic release of radiation, even though we’ve faced real threats for years due to the possibility of a terrorist "dirty bomb," according to a “blunt” U.S. Department of Homeland Security report that’s quietly circulating in Washington, the Washington Post reports.
Leaked details of the report follow findings published last month in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, which concluded that most states are unprepared for a "major radiation emergency incident."
For starters, hospitals outside the vicinity of nuclear power plants typically don’t include mass radiation exposure scenarios in their disaster preparedness drills, the report states. “Most medical personnel are untrained and unfamiliar with the level of risk posed by radiation,” the Post reports.
The nation also has a scant supply of potassium iodide, which can help prevent certain types of thyroid cancer if taken within hours of radiation exposure, the newspaper reports. The U.S. Strategic National Stockpile stopped purchasing the drug about two years ago. - Article