New radiation screening devices will help protect

2005 Archived News

It's hard to imagine but if King County ever faces a radiological event, survival for many may depend on protecting emergency shelters from contamination. Now, with the help of a Federal Homeland Security grant, 18 new portable radiation monitors will soon help protect King County Parks facilities that serve as mass shelters during regional emergencies.

The monitors are actually small Geiger counters about the size of a transistor radio, the same kind of easy-to-use monitors now installed in many hospitals and medical facilities. They will be included in emergency supply containers stored throughout King County..

"In a radiological event, ideally emergency responders would decontaminate victims at the scene," explained Larry Kimble of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP). "Then they would be screened again for radiation before entering a shelter or medical facility. The Red Cross would not be able to deliver food or water to a site unless there was a guarantee that the shelter had been screened. Compromised sites would have to be closed down."

The new radiation monitors are part of a $90,000 federal grant awarded to King County from the Urban Areas Security Initiative. The county will also use the grant money to buy portable generators, lights and individual decontamination systems that could be used in emergency shelters.

During an 'Emergency Support Function,' the Parks and Recreation Division would be the primary agency responsible for coordinating mass care and emergency shelters. Parks currently has 15 designated shelter sites with structures and the ability to house occupants in tents at many more sites.

"Hopefully, we'll never have to use them," emphasized Kimble. "But in all of our emergency response drills, we've found that protecting sites from contamination will be critical and we work hard to be proactive and provide quality regional services."

For more information about the new radioactive screening devices, contact Larry Kimble at 206-296-4349.

King County's regional parks system encompasses more than 25,000 acres of regional parklands, trails, natural lands, open space, playfields and recreational facilities.