Development of a medical resource database for radiological emergency preparedness.

In order for Canada to be better prepared to respond quickly to a radiological or nuclear emergency detailed knowledge regarding the locations and capacities of hospitals, relevant medical supplies and radiological or nuclear professionals is needed. These key points of information were identified at a CRTI workshop in 2009, and it was proposed that a medical resource database (MRD) was required. This database is in addition to the development of a radiation accident registry which was also proposed at the CRTI Workshop in 2009. The MRD has been designed, built and populated where possible; it is now ready for field testing and deployment. The creation of the database is one more step towards a better and more effective response in a radiological or nuclear emergency. In order to maintain this database and keep it up to date, contributions from all levels of radiation protection professionals will be needed. In this paper, the database structure and the data collected will be presented and discussed.