Effective Cooperation with Emergency Response Organizations: Lessons from Fourteen Years at an Industrial Broad-Scope Licensee
R.W. Edwards (The Boeing Company)
A successful cooperation between the radiation safety staff at an industrial broad-scope licensee and the emergency response community is discussed. The basis of this cooperation is the premise that effective cooperation between the radiation safety community and emergency response community relies on developing key personal and organizational relationships, planning how to integrate the expert into the overall response effort, training both responders and experts, and providing successful support to emergency response organizations. Successful cooperative relationships provide an avenue for expanded support opportunities between these two communities. Practical methods for achieving these results are illustrated by the fourteen-year collaboration between The Boeing Company's Radiation Health Protection Group, the Boeing Security and Fire Department, and various emergency response organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Particular emphasis is given to methods used to prepare the radiation safety expert and the emergency responder to work with each other, and to ways of tailoring risk assessments, technical advice, and training to meet the needs of the emergency response community. Lessons and examples from emergency support activities and interviews with emergency responders illustrate the importance of these factors and demonstrate the effectiveness of this cooperation.