Ukraine receives more than 700 dosimeters for medical work in case of radiation accident

730 individual dosimeters are the first part of the assistance from the US government in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The modern devices for individual dosimetry have already been delivered to the regions.  The equipment is needed to record individual radiation doses of medical workers who will work in the radiation hazard zone in the event of a man-made emergency.

The Center for Public Health distributed dosimeters to radiation monitoring and dosimetric control groups established and operating in each oblast on the basis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A second batch of dosimeters is also planned to be delivered, which will be distributed among the emergency centers.

“In the event of a man-made emergency, medical workers who will potentially be involved in the response to the consequences in the radiation hazard zone must comply with the standards for permissible radiation doses. An individual dosimeter helps to make sure that these standards are not exceeded and that the exposure level is within safe limits. This is important both for medical workers who will work in the exposure zone if necessary and for the population that will be evacuated in the event of an emergency. Accurate information on the level of exposure allows us to effectively organize the work of the specialists involved in the response, the routes of patients and provide specialized treatment,” said Deputy Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin.

Individual dosimeters allow keeping records of the accumulated dose over a long period of time. In addition, individual dosimeters are necessary to ensure personal safety, and compliance with norms and standards, as well as to monitor and control radiation exposure to individual specialists working in hazardous conditions. This is important for determining possible long-term consequences and for establishing radiation doses for specialists working in the radiation-affected area.

It should be recalled that in late June, Zaporizhzhia hosted a large-scale training exercise to test response algorithms in the event of a possible terrorist attack at the plant. Relevant central, regional, and local services were involved, in particular, doctors, power engineers, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, rescuers, and utilities.

Also in August, emergency medical teams, radiation monitoring and dosimetric control groups of the CDCs, and rescuers from 6 regions held joint trainings and practiced their skills in Rivne oblast. In addition, hospitals and emergency medical services in all oblasts are practicing a general response algorithm in the event of a possible terrorist attack at ZNPP and joint algorithms for actions in the event of a radiation threat. These include preparedness and response, coordination of joint actions of medical professionals at the regional and national levels between hospitals, interaction with emergency medical services and disaster medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.