Exploring Medical and Public Health Preparedness for a Nuclear Incident Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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10 Reflections on the Workshop and Opportunities for Moving Forward
10 Reflections on the Workshop and Opportunities for Moving Forward
Pages 147-154
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From page 147... ...
thoughts on the meeting and potential action items discussed. BLUMENSTOCK'S KEY MESSAGES The Reality of a Nuclear Threat Blumenstock reinforced a point made evident at the beginning of the workshop: The possibility of a nuclear incident is real, and "an incident anywhere is an incident everywhere." The magnitude of any type of nuclear assault, he said, would transcend geopolitical, or state, boundaries.
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From page 148... ...
" The Potential to Save Lives Blumenstock said that several presenters emphasized that notwith standing the consequences of a nuclear incident, lives can and will be saved through effective public education and by deploying a skilled, educated, and sufficiently resourced public health, health care, and first-responder workforce. "The response apparatus and the public must be motivated and driven by this positive outlook," Blumenstock said, "and not be taking a fatalistic outlook that there is nothing we can do, so we shouldn't prepare." Planning Assumptions If such an incident were treated as an act of war, then military assets most likely would not be available to assist the civilian community in its
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From page 149... ...
This would be especially true in the early days of an incident, when multiple jurisdictions could be impacted and there would be uncertainty around the impact across the country. International Assistance and the Global Health Emergency Workforce Regarding international assistance in the event of a nuclear incident in the United States, Blumenstock mentioned concern voiced from the Pacific Rim regarding proximity to and reliance on other countries that may be closer logistically and from where it might be easier to provide support compared to Hawaii or the continental United States (see Chapter 3)
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Workforce Needs and Collaboration Blumenstock noted that workforce needs and gaps were discussed repeatedly throughout the workshop. In particular, he mentioned the im portance of supporting nuclear response skills development, education, and training among current and future members of the public health and health care workforces; the challenge of addressing responders' fears and discom forts regarding a nuclear incident; the role of volunteers and technology (e.g., telemedicine)
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From page 151... ...
Ensuring that medical and public health personnel know how to use services and resources is criti cal to delivery, Yeskey said, and he referred to the list of countermeasures held in the Strategic National Stockpile and elsewhere. Most health care professionals are not familiar with the use of such particular medications, and he noted there may also be additional novel medications in use issued through emergency use authorizations.
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From page 152... ...
Yeskey also noted that while the risk of cancer from radiation is low, for those who do suffer that fate, it is a significant setback, and long-term recovery becomes all the more important. Yeskey identified three crosscutting issues for the public health and health care communities to consider in response to a nuclear incident: ental health, audience-specific and age-specific communications strategies, m and fatalities management.
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From page 153... ...
These and other environmental and public health issues should be addressed in a consolidated message across jurisdictions, Yeskey said. Looking toward long-term recovery, Yeskey commented that many people would likely wonder when they could return to their homes and communi ties: When is it safe, and how "safe" is safe?
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