A Medical Device Daily
Mike Leavitt, secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, reported that the department has developed a new downloadable online diagnostic and treatment toolkit designed for clinicians, primarily physicians, who may have to provide medical care during a radiation incident.
The package of information includes what he called “easy-to-follow” procedures for diagnosis and management of radiation contamination and exposure, guidance for the use of radiation medical countermeasures, and other features to facilitate medical responses.
Guidance on diagnosis and treatment will help health care providers by describing types of radiation emergencies they may face, initial medical actions at the incident site and or medical facility, and key steps in patient care.
The iRadiation Event Medical Management (REMM) web site is http://remm.nlm.gov/.
“The REMM toolkit is part of our effort to improve public health emergency preparedness and response,” Leavitt said. “It reflects the department’s commitment to help instill a spirit of preparedness throughout our nation.”
The agency said that the information is presented so that it “will quickly and efficiently orient and guide healthcare providers during a mass casualty radiation event.”
In addition to online access, federal, state and local medical response teams will be able to download REMM information on laptop computers for quick access when they are deployed to a radiation incident or for training sessions. Users can also register for automatic e-mail updates whenever information is changed or added to the REMM web site.
Future plans include formatting the REMM material for use on PDA devices, additional multimedia graphics, and more topic areas, such as follow-up patient care of radiation’s chronic effects.
Plea for breast cancer funding
Advocates at a National Breast Cancer Coalition forum last week said that annual funding should be increased to $150 million for a Department of Defense program that involves researchers and patient advocates in breast cancer research spending decisions.
The program, which was launched in 1992, received $150 million annually from FY02 to FY05, and it received $127.5 million in both FY06 and FY07, according to the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
A letter being circulated by Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Illinois), Tom Davis (R-Virginia), Nita Lowey (D-New York) and James McGovern (D-Massachusetts) says that the program has led to new methods of extracting breast cancer cells at early stages, the development of the breast cancer drug Herceptin, and research on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in causing the disease.
The letter, which is being given to appropriators, says: “we do not yet know how to prevent the disease” and that there is not a cure or an “accurate, reliable early detection method.”