I've taken dozens of FEMA and public health courses on the web. For the first time I flunked an exam. I'm not completely convinced this isn't FEMA's error but they don't provide any feedback on which questions one got wrong. "IS-00301" "Radiological Emergency Response "
I passed it the second time around. This was the hardest FEMA class I've taken. Sample question: You have responded to an accident involving a truck containing radiopharmaceuticals. The Incident Commander tells you that a package found on the ground indicates that it contains 0.2 Ci or 7.4 x 109 Bq of Cs-137. He wants to know exactly what that means in terms of risk to responders. What will you tell him? Supplied answer: This package contains two-tenths of a curie, or 200 millicuries, of cesium (Cs). A curie is a unit of radioactivity. (Two-tenths of a curie is equal to 7,400,000,000 becquerels. A becquerel (Bq) is an international unit of radioactivity.) Cesium has a half-life of 30 years, which means that the 0.2 Ci of Cs-137 will decay down to one-tenth of a curie in about 30 years. Cs-137 is a cesium isotope that emits beta and gamma radiation. Beta radiation cannot travel very far in air and has little penetrating power. It can damage the outer layer of skin, but it is mainly an internal hazard. Gamma radiation can penetrate through the body, travels long distances in air, and is considered an external as well as an internal hazard. Practical steps that can be taken to reduce your internal risk to Cs-137 would include wearing anti-contamination clothing complete with face mask or respirator (if the responder is trained and respirator fitted.) Your exposure to the gamma emitter in Cs-137 can be reduced by relying on the exposure control methods of time, distance, and shielding. Time spent in the radiation field may be lessened by rotating the crew. Unless you have a designated function, stay out of the radiation field. Put as much shielding between you and the radiation source as possible. The denser the material the better the shielding. For example, a fire truck may provide better shielding than a concrete block wall.
