Posted on 12/02/2002 6:54:07 PM PST by all4one
U.S. Postal Service equipping workers with potassium iodide pills in event of radiological emergency.
WASHINGTON - The latest equipment for American postal workers: potassium iodide pills to protect against thyroid cancer in the event of a radiological emergency.
The U.S. Postal Service said Monday that it was purchasing nearly 1.6 million pills for distribution to workers.
"It's a proactive approach regarding the safety, health and well-being of employees nationwide," said Sue Brennan, Postal Service spokeswoman. She would not say how much they paid for the pills.
Potassium iodide is the only medication for internal radiation exposure. It has just one use to prevent thyroid cancer by shielding the thyroid from radioactive iodine.
Potassium iodide would be helpful only if a dirty bomb used radioactive iodine instead of other radioactive substances, and then only for people close to the explosion.
The tablets are being offered to all 750,000 postal workers nationwide. Two tablets will be given to any employee who wants to have the pills in case of an emergency.
"Employees are out there in all of these communities nationwide and we wanted to err on the side of caution," Brennan said.
In January, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it would provide free stockpiles of potassium iodide to 33 states that had residents living within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of one of the nation's 102 nuclear reactors.
As with any medication, overdoses of potassium iodide can be dangerous. Some people may experience allergic reactions, including nausea or rashes.
Phone calls to the American Postal Workers Union and National Association of Letter Carriers were not immediately returned.
Not with anyone who knows diddly about radiation dosage, radiation effects, and health physics. Do you suppose that the conveyor lines in post office sorting areas aren't already equipped with radiation detectors. AT MOST, an envelope with your "drop of radioactive solution" MIGHT give some dose to the guy who picks it up out of the mailbox and carries it back to the post office, but I would suspect that any such exposure would not exceed current limits for "allowed occupational exposure".
Yup, sure did. That is why I said not with anyone who had a brain cell about radiation. I wasn't talking about the ignorant sheep who have bought all the "scare stories" put out by the anti-nuke nuts for the last fifty years.
"And, no, USPS does not currently employ radiation dection devices in most of its facilities."
If they DON'T have Geiger tubes on their conveyor lines at the automated sorting facilities, then the management of the USPS are fools. Geiger tubes are simple, cheap, and rugged. Of course, those sorting facilities don't comprise "most of its facilities"--those are comprised of podunk post offices out in the boonies, and really don't NEED radiation detection. However, since the automated facilities "see" virtually all the mail, that is where the detection capabilities should be installed.
I did a google search on potassium iodide substitute allergic to iodide, and this link had good info: http://www.healthyvermonters.info/hp/yankee/kifaqs.shtml#four
Also, here is a link defining the seriousness of anaphylactic shock: http://www.hon.ch/Library/Theme/Allergy/Glossary/shock.html
No. I'm assuming you mean the auto injector for nerve agents. I think they would be controlled (which means unorthodox procurement methods would apply).
I doubt that they would be of use since the injection must occur in the first 30 to 60 seconds to work. It's unlikely that any civilian situation would provide the opportunity to realize that an attack had occured (by observing symptoms in yourself or others), find the injectors, and administer them before losing the ability to do so. This seems like pretty much military and emergency response team stuff to be of any real value.
Man, I sure hope so. Can you immagine the next nuclear attack being delivered by the USPS instead of a missle? Total bummer.
I am assuming you are asking where to buy them. (I also am assuming you didn't read the rest of the thread)
I bought mine here:
http://www.ki4u.com/products.htm
They also have quite a lot of information about radiation there.
However, the Iodide here protects against Thyroid cancer. Not everyone gets thyroid cancer from radiation.
If she might die from Iodine, the chance of dying immediately from the iodine is much higher than the chance of getting thyroid cancer years later and dying, especially if she is over 50. If she just gets a rash, and she is young, (i.e under 50, so that if she got cancer she would be young enough for the cancer to shorten life significantly), she might try the Prednisone etc.
Personally, I wouldn't take the iodine if I had this history, since thyroid cancer is treatable, and the risk is not that high.
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