The Woodruff School

SUMMARY

A Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) is any device that releases radioactive material particles into the environment (e.g. Dirty Bomb). Depending on the size of the explosion, location, and the weather conditions the affected area could be several city blocks. In such an event there could be hundreds, even thousands of contaminated victims seeking medical treatment. One concern in the healthcare industry is the uncertainty of the level of radiation exposure to the healthcare providers from these contaminated patients. The intention of this study is to estimate the effective dose to the patient and healthcare providers given a patient with skin contamination of 60Co, 137Cs, 131I, 192Ir, or 241Am. Several anthropomorphic phantoms were developed to give a realistic range of scenarios. The Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code version 5 (MCNP5), a stochastic stimulation code, was used to obtain the effective dose of the victims and the healthcare providers.

SUBJECT:	M.S. Thesis Presentation

BY:	Ashby Bridges

TIME:	Friday, August 11, 2006, 12:00 p.m.

PLACE:	Neely Building, 118

TITLE:	Estimating the Radiation Dose to Emergency Room Personel in an Event of a Radiological Dispersal Device Explosion

COMMITTEE:	Dr. Nolan Hertel, Chair (NRE) Dr. Farzad Rahnema (NRE) Dr. Rebecca Howell (NRE)

SUMMARY A Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) is any device that releases radioactive material particles into the environment (e.g. Dirty Bomb). Depending on the size of the explosion, location, and the weather conditions the affected area could be several city blocks. In such an event there could be hundreds, even thousands of contaminated victims seeking medical treatment. One concern in the healthcare industry is the uncertainty of the level of radiation exposure to the healthcare providers from these contaminated patients. The intention of this study is to estimate the effective dose to the patient and healthcare providers given a patient with skin contamination of 60Co, 137Cs, 131I, 192Ir, or 241Am. Several anthropomorphic phantoms were developed to give a realistic range of scenarios. The Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code version 5 (MCNP5), a stochastic stimulation code, was used to obtain the effective dose of the victims and the healthcare providers.