Australian Clinical Guidelines for Radiological Emergencies
The purpose of the Australian Clinical Guidelines for Radiological Emergencies is to assist physicians, particularly those in accident and emergency departments of hospitals, nurses and medical and health physicists in the medical management of individuals who have been involved in radiation accidents. Medical administrators should also find it helpful in planning for action to be taken within a hospital when such individuals are admitted to the hospital.
For medical personnel it will enable them to more effectively manage people who are involved in radiation accident/emergency situations and to take into account the risks arising from different radiation sources. It will also give a better appreciation of the essential elements of a hospital's response plans for radiation emergencies and the adoption of disaster plans for multiple casualties.
For health physicists it will enable them to become aware of the different diagnostic and treatment modalities and gave them a better appreciation of pre-hospital and hospital emergency plans. In turn, they should be able to organise a more appropriate health physics response.
Update to the Australian Clinical Guidelines for Radiological Emergencies
In April 2024, the Chair of the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council wrote to the CEO of ARPANSA recommending “that the review of the Australian clinical guidelines for radiological emergencies 2012 commence urgently, as the existing guidance is over a decade old, which would generally be considered obsolete by health professionals”. ARPANSA and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing agreed to review responsibility of the document, and ownership now rests with ARPANSA. In May 2025, representatives from ARPANSA, Peter Mac and ANSTO formed a working group to review and update the document, ensuring that content aligns with current international best-practice and is applicable to the Australian context. The updated guidelines, notionally titled Australian Guidelines for Medical Response to Radiological or Nuclear Emergencies, will be published in 2027.
It has been proposed that the guidelines be split and published as two complementary documents, Part 1 and Part 2, similar in structure to the Radiation Protection Series G-3. Part 1 is primarily intended for those involved in planning and preparedness for radiological or nuclear emergencies, while also providing relevant background information for other readers. Part 2 then specifies the operational aspects of medical response to radiological or nuclear emergencies through a series of flowcharts, procedures, and decision-support tools.
If you wish to be involved during the stakeholder consultation periods for this work and provide comment on drafted material, you can express your interest through the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/BebhPKQttt
