surgblumm Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Something that surfaced on my email today. What if, we as PAs and NPs were to awaken and discover there was a nuclear accident in CONUS? Here is the article--short. http://www.drugs.com/news/terrorist-nuke-attack-could-overwhelm-u-s-medical-study-69190.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 29, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2018 my plan sit down, hug family, and hole up..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeOuttaThisMess Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 2 hours ago, surgblumm said: Something that surfaced on my email today. What if, we as PAs and NPs were to awaken and discover there was a nuclear accident in CONUS? Here is the article--short. http://www.drugs.com/news/terrorist-nuke-attack-could-overwhelm-u-s-medical-study-69190.html I agree. When I took the course provided by the folks at Oak Ridge Nat.'l Laboratory, it was amazing the stories that they had to tell. Folks will pour into the ED and immediately contaminate the department. Unless widely broadcast, ED staff would take a while to realize what they're dealing with. Triage would have to be moved outside, washing of all those entering with suspected exposure would be necessary, and most providers wouldn't have a clue as to how to discern whether it was alpha, beta, or gamma radiation and what the impact would be (history, history, history). Most dirty bombs as I recall would be alpha based radiation and treatment is to keep body covered with initial clothing, cover open orifices (mouth/nose especially) and eyes, and stay behind just about any physical structure. Traditional "dirty bombs" are more of a psychological threat than a physical one, unless you're right there at ground zero. Without looking it up, what's the first organ system to show evidence of radiation sickness (excluding superficial burns to skin or eyes)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinkertdm Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Influenza overwhelms most ED's, and I know that the local rural ED near me is essentially a glorified urgent care. While terrifying, I hope that most of us realize that, outside of a few hospitals in urban centers, most ED's are ill equipped to handle any nuclear, biological, or chemical incident, and are basically hoping that luck will hold out. I signed up in Florida for some sort of state wide medical resource thing, but I never heard back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 29, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2018 2 hours ago, GetMeOuttaThisMess said: Without looking it up, what's the first organ system to show evidence of radiation sickness (excluding superficial burns to skin or eyes)? GI and GU as I would be peeing and pooping myself..... repeatedly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeOuttaThisMess Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 Yep. Blood changes take months to develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgriffiths Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 51 minutes ago, ventana said: GI and GU as I would be peeing and pooping myself..... repeatedly This was a glorious response! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surgblumm Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 Great to see that there are so many astute clinicians on this forum. thanks for responding as many PA sites do not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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