Individuals' Decisions Affecting Radiation Exposure After a Nuclear Explosion.
From: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, USA. florig@cmu.edu
Health physics
- Publish Date: May 2007
- ISSN: 0017-9078
- Volume: 92
- Issue: 5
- Pages: 475-83
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Florig H Keith, Fischhoff Baruch, et al. Individuals' Decisions Affecting Radiation Exposure After a Nuclear Explosion.. May 2007;92:475-83
Abstract
In the aftermath of a nuclear attack, shelters can offer potentially important protection. How well they fill that role depends on a set of interdependent decisions made by the individuals and organizations that must prepare and use them. We look at three such decisions. For each, we begin with formal analysis of the consequences expected from different possible actions. Those analyses are, then, reviewed in terms of how individuals facing these choices will perceive them, given the information that they are likely to have. The first example suggests that preparing a home shelter according to guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security may not pass a cost-benefit test. The second example explores the use of readily available information about a blast to infer how urgently shelter should be sought. The third example considers when shelters should be left, suggesting that individuals with the best shelters and slowest evacuation speeds should evacuate last, if they have the provisions needed to remain. In each case, helping people to protect themselves requires prior risk analyses and communication development.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Accidents, Radiation, Computer Simulation, Decision Making, Decision Support Techniques, Environmental Exposure, Humans, Models, Biological, Nuclear Warfare, Radiation Injuries, Radiation Monitoring, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Safety Management, Terrorism, United States
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 17429306
This abstract is part of PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed includes more than 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles. See Copyright and Disclaimers.
Linked medical terms appearing on this page are added by Healia to help readers find more information and are not part of the original PubMed document.
The data herein was last updated on July 8th, 2008 and may not reflect the most current and accurate data available from NLM.