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Lt. Col. Peter Forsberg, a physician assistant in the Department of Surgery and member of the Alamo Medical Response Group, is interviewed by KABB-TV about the symptoms of radiation contamination during a preparedness exercise.
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SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 15, 2008) — The UT Health Science Center San Antonio’s supporting role in homeland security was in full view Nov. 15 as the university’s Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute hosted a mass casualty response exercise for members of the state’s volunteer medical response corps.

The Texas Medical Rangers Alamo Medical Response Group of the Texas State Guard practiced using Geiger counters to rapidly assess radioactive contamination during the drill, which included students from the Health Science Center Department of Physician Assistant Studies and from Northside Health Careers High School. The students posed as concerned citizens asking to be screened after mock news of a terrorist-induced radiation release in the area.

Volunteers from the U.S. Public Health Service and the UT School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus and staff of the Health Science Center’s Office of Environmental Health & Safety assisted with the exercise.

“The scenario is that in a Washington, D.C., hospital, someone shows up with radiation poisoning,” said Lt. Col. Peter Forsberg, a Health Science Center physician assistant and member of the Alamo Medical Response Group. “The individual presents with nausea, vomiting, hair loss and skin reddening, diagnosed as radiation contamination. Cases also are reported in other cities, suggesting surreptitious planning of radioactivity around the U.S. People begin streaming into emergency rooms. Today’s exercise is an example of seeing these individuals, most of whom are not contaminated, at risk screening centers rather than clogging up hospitals.”

In such an incident, some people will emit radioactivity from routine nuclear medicine imaging procedures they have had, said Michael Charlton, Ph.D., assistant vice president for risk management & safety at the Health Science Center. Public health officials will need to be able to rapidly distinguish those who are truly contaminated.

Little Alice Lynch looks at the wand of a Geiger counter as she and her father, Joseph Lynch, a student in the physician assistant studies program at the Health Science Center, are screened during the radiation contamination screening exercise.

“You can’t smell or taste radiation,” Dr. Charlton said. “The Health Science Center teaches scientists and clinicians to use special equipment to quickly identify radioactive contamination.”

Texas Medical Rangers units are part of the Texas Military Forces and are co-sponsored by state-supported health science centers. In March 2003, at the direction of Gov. Rick Perry, the Health Science Center became the first institution to co-sponsor the first Texas Medical Rangers unit.

The rangers augment the local community response in disasters. These volunteers complement the efforts of health care professionals, who may quickly become overburdened during crises.

“We focus well on the need for clinical support in disasters, but we forget the preponderance of need for preventive medicine and risk communication,” said John Herbold, D.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D., of the UT School of Public Health San Antonio Regional Campus and director of the Center for Biosecurity & Public Health Preparedness. “Our citizens are smart folks if they get the right communication in their hands.”

Jean Rhoden-Gill, careers department coordinator at Northside Health Careers High School, said the drill was an excellent opportunity for students to learn about public health career opportunities and how response teams deal with disasters.

After the exercise, the Texas Medical Rangers Alamo Medical Response Group held a change of command ceremony. Lt. Col. Forsberg, commander since January 2006, passed the baton to Lt. Col. Michael Champion. During his assignment, Lt. Col. Forsberg, a faculty associate in the Health Science Center Department of Surgery, participated in Operations Katrina, Rita, Dean, Ike and Gustav, among others.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $36 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 24,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.