Responder Safety and Health: Resources

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Protective Action Guides (PAGs)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the PAG Manual to provide guidance on protective actions and when to take them. The manual contains radiation dose guidelines that would trigger protective actions like evacuation or staying indoors. The PAG Manual is a planning guide for emergency responders, and applies to any radiation incident.

 

Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG)
From U.S. Department of Transportation, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) provides first responders with the Emergency Response Guidebook, a go-to manual to help deal with hazmat accidents during the critical first 30 minutes. PHMSA's goal is to place an ERG in every emergency service vehicle nationwide. To date, nearly 11 million free copies have been distributed to the emergency response community through state emergency management coordinators. 

 

CDC Radiological Terrorism: Just in Time Training for Hospital Clinicians
This brief (17-min) video from the CDC covers key radiation principles and radiological procedures. Includes demonstrations on applying these principles and procedures in several patient care scenarios in an emergency services setting.

 

CDC Radiological Terrorism: Tool Kit for Public Health Officials
To bridge gaps in knowledge and skills regarding terrorism response and planning efforts for radiological or nuclear events, the CDC has assembled this toolkit. It includes education on planning for radiological and nuclear terrorism, monitoring in radiation emergencies, guidelines for handling contaminated decedents, and how to use hand-held radiation survey equipment to screen people for contamination.

 

The National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training
The National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is the national resource for hazardous waste worker curricula, technical reports, and weekly news on hazardous materials, waste operations and emergency response.

 

Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene information for workers, employers, and occupational health professionals. The industrial hygiene information found in the Pocket Guide should help users recognize and control occupational chemical hazards.