TRIAGE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF THE ACUTE RADIATION SYNDROME

Medical personnel of the state Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will be the first element involvedin providing assistance to victims of radiation incidents. Triage, initial diagnosis and further patient medical managementwill depend on their actions. In many radiation incidents, initial radiation triage and early diagnostics will becarried out in the emergency department (ED) or trauma center (TC). Extended triage, diagnosis of ARS and propertreatment will be continued in specialist centers.The aim: To present a model of patient medical management including initial triage and early diagnosis of ARS thatcan be carried out at the ED and TC.Material and methods: The initial medical procedures prepared by expert groups were presented. The choice ofprocedures was made in terms of the possibility of their application by the EMS teams in Poland. Particular attentionwas paid to the method of initial triage, based on the clinical condition and laboratory diagnostics.Results: Based on the material collected, the path of the initial medical procedure was presented. Variants of theradiation triage, interpretation of clinical parameters and results of laboratory tests are presented. The methods ofinitial treatment and the method of qualification for specialist treatment, and new methods of treating patients werealso described.Conclusions: An adequate evaluation of radiation incidents, determining the absorbed dose of ionising radiation andARS, as well as initial triage seem to be crucial skills of the EMS workers.