Radiation Sickness

When a person has experienced known or probable exposure to a high dose of radiation from an accident or attack, medical personnel take a number of steps to determine the absorbed radiation dose. This information is essential for determining how serious the illness is likely to be, which treatments to use and whether a person is likely to survive.

Information important for determining an absorbed dose includes:

• Known exposure. Details about distance from the source of radiation and duration of exposure can help provide a rough estimate of the severity of radiation sickness.
• Vomiting and other symptoms. The time between radiation exposure and when vomiting starts is a fairly accurate screening tool to estimate absorbed radiation dose. The shorter the time before vomiting starts, the higher the dose. The severity and timing of other symptoms also may help medical personnel determine the absorbed dose.
• Blood tests. Frequent blood tests over several days enable medical personnel to look for drops in disease-fighting white blood cells and unusual changes in the DNA of blood cells. These factors indicate the degree of bone marrow damage, which is determined by the level of an absorbed dose.
• Dosimeter. A device called a dosimeter can measure the absorbed dose of radiation but only if it was exposed to the same radiation event as the affected person.
• Survey meter. A device such as a Geiger counter can be used to test people to see where in the body radioactive particles are located.
• Type of radiation. A part of the larger emergency response to a radioactive accident or attack would include identifying the type of radiation exposure. This information would guide some decisions for treating people with radiation sickness.