The 2018 Preparedness Summit is just days away! The summit will take place April 17-20 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Ga. This year at the summit, there will be a wide range of sessions and workshops available, including sessions on radiation preparedness. The summit will feature a radiation Track, consisting of three sessions and a town hall, all brought to you by the Radiation Injury Treatment Network (RITN):
- Public Health Radiation Emergency Response Capability: Community Reception Centers and Lessons Learned from Gotham Shield. This session will provide an overview of developing radiological capacity, resources, and partnerships necessary for a public health department to respond to a radiation emergency, with an emphasis on the lessons learned from the federal, functional exercise, Gotham Shield 2017.
- Using the Nuclear Option for Preparedness Planning: Local Health Department Population Monitoring Systems, Lessons Learned, and Best Practices from Radiation Community Reception Center Exercises. This session will include presenters from local health departments sharing their best practices and lessons learned from recent radiation community reception center operational exercises. There will also be discussion around establishing population monitoring systems.
- Public Health Nuclear Preparedness in the Pacific. This session will discuss the responses taken by Pacific jurisdictions following the threat of nuclear attack from North Korea and the longer-term nuclear preparedness requirements of their programs.
- What You Don’t Know About Radiation Risk: The Current State of Radiation Readiness. This late-breaking town hall will provide an academic perspective on the current and evolving threat environment; discuss the policy, strategy, and resource priorities and gaps our communities must address; and provide a clinical perspective on aspects of mass casualty care during an incident.
In addition to the sessions included in the Radiation Track, there are a few other sessions pertaining to radiation available at the summit:
- Radiological Preparedness: Building Surveillance and Response Capabilities. This session will discuss radiological preparedness methods, including volunteer management, community reception center planning, and surveillance.
- This Is Not a Drill: Are We Ready for a Nuclear Threat? This town hall will detail the need for nuclear/radiological preparedness and response funding, highlight the history of the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) funding and how its expansion to include nuclear/radiological capabilities is critical in ensuring our nations laboratories operate effectively when faced with the next public health threat.
- How to Engage Radiation Professionals and Other Volunteers in a Public Health Radiation Response. This quick hit session will include presenters sharing on how a partnership among local, state, and federal organizations allowed us to engage radiation professionals to work with local MRC units, training them to provide both the personnel and knowledge required to help public health in Georgia respond to radiation events.
- Emergency Preparedness and Environmental Health: A Partnership for Success. This quick hit session will describe best practices and lessons learned about emergency preparedness and environmental health collaborate in Kent County.
To learn more about the sessions mentioned, presenter information, and session location, see the Preparedness Summit Schedule.
Attendees, download the NACCHO Conferences app on Apple and Android devices to personalize your agenda with the full offering of radiation sessions:
- A-09 (Learning Session)—Public Health Radiation Emergency Response Capability: Community Reception Centers and Lessons Learned from Gotham Shield – Tuesday, April 17, 10:30 a.m. – noon *Radiation Track
- B-03 (Learning Session) — Radiological Preparedness: Building Surveillance and Response Capabilities – Tuesday, April 17, 1:30 – 3 p.m.
- (Late-breaking Town Hall)—What You Don’t Know About Radiation Risk: The Current State of Radiation Readiness – Tuesday, April 17, 5:30 – 7 p.m. *Radiation Track
- TH-02 (Town Hall)—This Is Not a Drill: Are We Ready for a Nuclear Threat? – Wednesday, April 18, 8:30 – 10 a.m.
- E-06 (Learning Session)—Using the Nuclear Option for Preparedness Planning: Local Health Department Population Monitoring Systems, Lessons Learned, and Best Practices from Radiation Community Reception Center Exercises – Wednesday, April 18, 1:30 – 3 p.m. *Radiation Track
- QH-26 (Quick Hit)—How to Engage Radiation Professionals and Other Volunteers in a Public Health Radiation Response – Wednesday, April 18, 3:30 – 4:15 p.m.
- G-12 (Learning Session)—Public Health Nuclear Preparedness in the Pacific – Thursday, April 19, 10:30 a.m. – noon *Radiation Track
- QH-40 (Quick Hit)—Emergency Preparedness and Environmental Health: A Partnership for Success – Thursday, April 19, 3:30 – 4:15 p.m.