scope:

This document presents general principles for preparedness to conduct individual contamination screening, triage, monitoring and assessing radiation doses received by people exposed during and/or in the aftermath of a nuclear or major radiological incident. The document mainly focuses on the early response phase, which requires rapid actions to be undertaken for achieving the goals in support of, and according to, national or international guidelines on emergency response.

It addresses general requirements for members of the public - this includes adults, vulnerable populations (such as children and pregnant women), people with special needs (such as the elderly and disabled) and emergency workers. This document provides general procedures for screening, triage and monitoring these two categories of populations. It deals with individual monitoring for potential external contamination, internal and external exposures and dose assessment. It also gives principles for organizing and managing a population screening centre and for registering and reporting the results of individual monitoring. This document should be applicable to most situations following a nuclear or major radiological incident affecting a large number of people, including:

- accidental release of radioactive materials (e.g., from a facility, transportation or nuclear power plant),

- radiological dispersal device (RDD),

- improvised nuclear device (IND),

- nuclear weapon.

Radiological incidents for which there is no release of radioactive substances in the environment but only external exposures, e.g., that linked to a Radiation Exposure Device (RED) are outside the scope of this document¹⁾. However, some information given by this standard may be of interest for this type of event.

The aim of the standard is to ensure that the appropriate parties are prepared in advance. This document advises how to obtain and collect data quickly and accurately in order to inform decision makers. It does not specify the parties or individuals who are responsible for undertaking the actions.

This first part will be complemented by subsequent parts describing in more details the specific topics covered in this standard.

This document is intended to give guidance to those in charge of monitoring and assessing doses received by populations in emergency exposure situations involving a large number of people potentially subject to internal/external contamination (and subsequent radiation doses). It can also serve as guidance to regulatory bodies.

¹⁾ Incidents resulting from RED exposure are excluded from consideration in this standard because they will not result in contamination that would be detected by a portal monitor or handheld device. Identification of victims with only potential external exposure will be determined by means such as evaluation of clinical signs and symptoms, biodosimetry, EPR, etc.