Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Oct 2001

Vol. 542 No. 2

Written Answers. - National Emergency Plan.

Liam Lawlor

Question:

283 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will clarify the medical control and response systems which would automatically come into effect in the case of a national disaster; and his views on whether the provisions need to be reviewed and revised. [23633/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

In 1984 the Government approved a framework for a co-ordinated response to major emergencies. The purpose was to establish common procedures in each of the front-line emergency services for activating emergency plans and co-ordination, control and co-operation during peacetime emergencies.

Each of the health boards has an emergency plan, which is based on this framework. The plan, which is essentially an ambulance service emergency plan, dovetails with the emergency plans of the other emergency services, that is, local authorities and the Garda. The plan can be activated by any one of these three sectors. In the case of the health services, the ambulance controllers notify designated hospitals in the health board area when the plan is activated.

At hospital level the emergency plan is designed to deal with the receipt of patients in the event of the occurrence of a major disaster. The aim is to ensure that hospitals are in a position to mobilise all necessary and available resources and to utilise these to the best advantage so that the resulting response is appropriate, structured, co-ordinated and effectively managed.

In view of the recent tragic events in the United States, the chief executive officers of the health boards are establishing a national group to review all aspects of major emergency planning in the health context. This review will inform the need for any revision to the existing plans.

At my request, an expert group has also been established to develop a contingency plan to deal with a biological attack. The basic structures are already in place at both regional and national level. These include the National Disease Surveillance Centre and the Virus Reference Laboratory at national level and the departments of public health at regional level. A high level containment facility is currently under construction at the Virus Reference Laboratory and a computerised infectious disease reporting system is currently being developed to provide enhanced surveillance. Ireland forms part of the EU network on communicable disease, which is concerned with surveillance, early warning and responses to communicable disease threats. The committee is examining the extent to which these arrangements may need to be enhanced to deal with the possibility of biological attack. The committee has also identified a number of short-term targets which are central to developing a plan to deal with a secondary biological threat.

With regard to a nuclear incident, the role of the health services under the national nuclear emergency plan relates primarily to the following areas: determining health problems and issuing of medical advice; provision of medical services at designated hospitals for contaminated persons including whole body monitoring; provision of ambulance services to transport injured persons to hospitals; collecting food samples for analysis by the Radiological Protection Institute; seizure and destruction of contaminated milk and foodstuffs; and stocking and distribution of stable iodine tablets should this be necessary. Ingestion of iodine tablets may be effective in preventing thyroid cancer in certain populations, especially children exposed to radioactive fallout. Whether or not iodine tablets would be necessary or of any value would be depend upon the level of radiation reaching any given area in Ireland and the type of radioactive material released. My Department is finalising the necessary arrangements for the purchase and distribution of new stocks of iodine tablets.