Response to emergencies is by its very nature characterised by urgency. During a nuclear or radiological emergency (NRE), radiation protection professionals may need to perform quick radiation dose estimations in order to inform medical management of affected individuals.

Methods and step-by-step algorithms for emergency dose estimation have been published and relevant sources are provided below (see references section). It is clear however, that even the implementation of simple algorithms, can be challenging in stressful emergency situations. In stress, the mere task of looking up the proper coefficients for dose calculations increases the probability for error. Access to needed information may also be hampered in case of emergency.

The Emergency Radiation Dose Assessment App (EmRadDose) aims to streamline the steps of typical dose calculations, needed to guide medical management of affected people, in case of NRE. EmRadDose was created as a stand-alone, off-line tool that may be installed on any Android device (most widely available mobile operating system). It includes information and detailed in-app guidance, needed for quick dose calculations. At the same time, the algorithm steps are clearly organised in order to reduce the probability of calculation errors. At the moment the app provides calculators for the following calculations:

• Effective dose due to external irradiation (point source)
• Committed effective dose due to inhalation of radionuclides
• Committed effective dose due to radionuclide contaminated
  wounds

EmRadDose is an open source tool and it is provided free of charge under the “GNU General Public License v3.0“.

EmRadDose can be downloaded from Google Play Store at:

Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.

Scientific Reviewers and Contributors

In alphabertical order:

• Armin Ansari, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
• John Damilakis, University of Crete, Greece
• Mats Isaksson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Fridtjof Nüsslin, Technical University of Munich, Germany
• Steve Sugarman, Summit Exercises and Training, USA
• Hugh Wilkins, Medical Physics and Radiation Protection Consultant, UK

Code Repository

EmRadDose is an open source tool. This means that EmRadDose may be modified and remixed freely by following the license terms. The code may be found at the following repository: https://github.com/tberris/EmRadDose.

EmRadDose: A Tool for Radiation Protection Professionals

It should be noted that EmRadDose is intended to be used by trained radiation protection experts, as it requires a good understanding of NREs. The app includes some of the most important dose calculators and also provides links to other resources and tools used for emergency dose assessments. The scientific sources/references are cited appropriately for easy verification of the methods used. The user is encouraged to explore all relevant references and tools mentioned in the app. provides full step by step guidance and proper explanations in every step. . include steps which can increase the probability of errors during the operational conditions of a nuclear or radiological emergency.

Disclaimer, Terms of Use, Data Usage and Privacy Policy

This mobile application provides a set of tools, used for quick external and internal dose assessment of affected individuals, in emergency situations. This application is offered free of charge and is intended for use by appropriately qualified radiation protection professionals. Results produced by the tools provided in this application should be always used in conjunction with sound professional judgement, taking into account the specific condition of every individual (or patient) involved. External and internal dose calculators are included. All methods used are based on scientific principles and published research that is properly cited in the application. Although information provided in this application has been carefully reviewed and comes from sources that are believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. The information is provided on an “as is” basis. All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of proprietary rights are disclaimed. This dose estimation application has NOT been approved for clinical use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or any other entity. Data usage and privacy policy: This application does not collect, save or transmit any kind of data or sensitive information to any entity. All information is locally and temporarily stored in the user’s device and is deleted when the user exits the relevant calculator screen or the application. This application does not require any special permissions and has no access to mobile device functionalities that could possibly compromise user privacy.

References

• International Atomic Energy Agency. Generic Procedures for Medical Response During a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency, EPR-Medical 2005. IAEA, Vienna (2005).
• International Atomic Energy Agency. Manual for First Responders to a Radiological Emergency, EPR-First Responders 2011. IAEA, Vienna (2006).
• International Atomic Energy Agency. Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GSR Part 7, IAEA, Vienna (2015).
• Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS). Early Internal and External Dose Magnitude Estimation. REAC/TS, Oak Ridge, TN (2015).
• Sugarman, S.L., Toohey, R., Goans, R., Christensen, D. and Wiley, A., 2010. Rapid internal dose magnitude estimation in emergency situations using annual limits on intake (ALI) comparisons. Health physics, 98(6), pp.815-818.
• Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS). The Medical Aspects of Radiation Incidents. REAC/TS, Oak Ridge, TN (2015).
• Smith, D.S. and Stabin, M.G., 2012. Exposure rate constants and lead shielding values for over 1,100 radionuclides. Health physics, 102(3), pp.271-291.
• Toohey, R.E., Bertelli, L., Sugarman, S.L., Wiley, A.L. and Christensen, D.M., 2011. Dose coefficients for intakes of radionuclides via contaminated wounds. REAC/TS, pp.1-625. Ver. 2 Aug 2014
• Unger, L.M. and Trubey, D.K., 1982. Specific gamma-ray dose constants for nuclides important to dosimetry and radiological assessment (No. ORNL/RSIC-45/Rev. 1). Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA).