U.S. Medical System Unprepared For Major Nuclear Emergency

U.S. Health-Care System Unprepared For Major Nuclear Emergency, Officials Say -- Washington Post

U.S. officials say the nation’s health system is ill-prepared to cope with a catastrophic release of radiation, despite years of focus on the possibility of a terrorist “dirty bomb” or an improvised nuclear device attack.

A blunt assessment circulating among American officials says, “Current capabilities can only handle a few radiation injuries at any one time.” That assessment, prepared by the Department of Homeland Security in 2010 and stamped “for official use only,’’ says “there is no strategy for notifying the public in real time of recommendations on shelter or evacuation priorities.”

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Update: U.S. Health System Judged Unready For Nuclear Disaster -- Global Security Newswire

My Comment: As we have learned from the nuclear disaster in Japan .... it is difficult to prepare for such a terrible disaster, let alone plan for it.