Preparedness Requirements

Overall, there is a general agreement that local preparedness of medical professionals for chemical terrorist incidences, as well as the levels of organization and systemic preparedness required and available are nominal. Although there are some highly trained personnel available and excellent capabilities in many consequence management organizations to respond to a domestic chemical disaster, chemical response personnel and equipment are everywhere limited compared to the potential threat, and there is still much room for improvement. 

Presidential Policy Directive 8 National Preparedness requires an annual National Preparedness Report (NPR) that summarizes national progress in bnilding, snstaining, and delivering the 31 core capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Goal. The 2013 National Preparedness Report identified areas of national strength in the following core capabilities ... 

Principal emergency response and preparedness requirements, OSHA Pub 3122. 

General Emergency Preparedness Requirements for All Threat Categories... 

The NRC has established detailed emergency preparedness requirements for their licensees where large releases of radioactive materials can occur no matter how small the probability of such an event (NRC, 1980, 1996). This includes nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) for their major facilities has implemented similar preparations. The basic objectives of these preparations are to ... 

Refuge chambers are required under the Mine Act while a secondary exit is being developed, or when mine personnel cannot reach the surface within 1 hour. Effective emergency preparedness requires regular inspections of refuge chambers and their contents. 

If you already haven t, go to www.osha.gov and download the 2004 publication, Principle Emergency Response and Preparedness Requirements and... 

OSHA. Principal Emergency Response and Preparedness Requirements. OS HA Publication No. 3122. 

Prepare and implement an emergency preparedness and response plan. Such a plan is required because of the large quantities of ammonia and other hazardous materials stored and handled on site. 

All of these chemicals pose an inhalation hazard but a toxic dose could also be obtained through skin absorption or ingestion. Factors that were considered when selecting potential candidate chemicals include global production, physical state of the material (i.e., gas, liquid, or solid), chemicals likely to cause major morbidity or mortality, potential to cause public panic and social disruption, chemicals that require special action for public health preparedness, history of previous use by the military, and/or involvement in a significant industrial accident. 

Preparedness and organization for response in critical situations involving toxic chemical substances requires a limited amount of decontamination powders, solid substances or solutions to be stockpiled and to be applicable. 

So that the F.A.S.T. can maintain a high level of efficiency and preparedness for emergency response situations, its members must meet certain requirements. 

Table 6.1 presents recommended and optional emergency preparedness measures for a variety of residential and urban settings. The recommended measures should be seriously considered. Optional measures are not absolutely essential they will provide added protection. In some settings, certain types of preparedness measures are not required. For example, a HEPA air filtration device is not required for a sports stadium. 

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