Radiological emergencies carry the potential for major disruptions to public health care provision, due to their infrequency, unpredicted nature, delay in appearance of adverse effects and the grave psychological impact on sufferers and society. This study aims to describe and analyze the main categories of radiological hazards and emergencies that require hospital response and preparedness at a nation-wide level, taking into specific account the example of Greece. These radiological threats are either accidental, like reactor emergencies and accidents in hospital or industrial units implementing radiological sources of high activities, or deliberate, like detonation of nuclear devices and malicious use of various radionuclides.
Bioterrorism constitutes a major health threat to global communities, with many specific features that carry the potential to extraordinary stress the Public Health Sector (PHS) of any country, because of the needs of resources and of a coordination network required for a successful response to such incidents. Bioterrorism incidents of the near past prove that public mortality and morbidity can be further reduced if a functional protocol would allow first responders, hospitals, and officials of the PHS to steer more efficiently the public expectations. At the national level, the PHS director is responsible to mobilize and coordinate that network of the critical human, financial and logistical resources during the preparedness and response phases after a bioterrorist attack to mitigate its effects. Both these phases include many specific functions and responsibilities, which will be beneath analyzed.
Nowadays, a wide range of natural and man-made disasters, disease outbreaks and pandemics give rise to health emergencies at a global level. Thus, a health security strategy is urgently required through central planning. At the national level, that vision can be implemented with a properly organized and fully functional Emergency Health Operation Center (EHOC). The main executive sections of an EHOC are Command, Planning, Operations, Logistics, Administration, Communications/Intelligence, and Reporting/Briefing. Each of the above sections has several functions and sub-functions, all operating according to a concrete legal basis and detailed operating procedures.
