Emergency Preparedness and Response

As acknowledged and signed by the Governor in Ohio’s Memorandum of Understanding on Response to Hazardous Materials Incidents, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is the primary agency in Ohio in responding to emergencies involving ionizing radiation. This program coordinates the training and actual deployment of ODH’s radiation emergency response team(s).

Some of the services performed by the Emergency Preparedness & Response Program include: radiological dose assessment in the event of a release of radioactive material; health physics oversight and training in radiation safety, radiological emergency preparedness and emergency response; sample collection, analysis and evaluation of environmental media; and radiological monitoring of individuals.

Emergency services include, but are not limited to, preparing for and responding to incidents associated with industrial and nuclear power accidents, terrorism events such as a dirty bomb or transportation accidents.

ODH is coordinating with other state and local agencies to offer voluntary distribution of potassium iodide (KI) pills to individuals within Ohio's 10-mile emergency planning zones surrounding commercial nuclear power plants. On April 29, 2002, ODH issued a Final Policy on "Distribution and Use of Potassium Iodide."

Effective January 2, 2007, the Division of Prevention will have a single public health response telephone number. The response number is 614-722-7221 and will be staffed 24/7. The response number provides a centralized point of contact to report Class A (1) infectious diseases, suspect bioterrorism acts, chemical incidents, radiation incidents and nautral disasters.

The Bureau of Radiation Protection will continue to use 614-644-2727 for all routine communications.

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Last Updated: 1/2/07

Environmental Radiation Safety Program / Links