title: General guidelines for safe and expeditious international transport of samples subjected to biological dosimetry assessment.
abstract: It has been observed that victims of accidental overexposures show better chance of survival if they receive medical treatment early. The increased risk of scenarios involving mass casualties has stimulated the scientific community to develop tools that would help the medical doctors to treat victims. The biological dosimetry has become a routine test to estimate the dose, supplementing physical and clinical dosimetry. In case of radiation emergencies, in order to provide timely and effectively biological dosimetry assistance it is essential to guarantee an adequate transport of blood samples in principal, for providing support to countries that do not have biodosimetry laboratories. The objective of the present paper is to provide general guidelines, summarised in 10 points, for timely and proper receiving and sending of blood samples under National and International regulations, for safe and expeditious international transport. These guidelines cover the classification, packaging, marking, labelling, refrigeration and documentation requirements for the international shipping of blood samples and pellets, to provide assistance missions with a tool that would contribute with the preparedness for an effective biodosimetric response in cases of radiological or nuclear emergencies.
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina mdigiorgio@arn.gob.ar.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Giorgio
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Analía
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radl
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: María R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Taja
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bubniak
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Mayra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deminge
authors.affiliation: Biological Dosimetry Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sapienza
authors.affiliation: Emergency Centre, Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Av. Del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Incident & Emergency Centre, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baciu
authors.affiliation: Incident & Emergency Centre, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kenny
mesh_terms: D001822:Body Burden; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007390:International Agencies; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D014186:Transportation