Hospital Security in Dirty Bomb Training as NATO Chicago Meeting Approaches

The Security Magazine Blog has learned that ten Chicago area hospitals recently performed drills simulating a radioactive dirty bomb explosion in preparation for a worst case scenario during the May NATO summit. An estimated 500 medical professionals and other volunteers donned bulky protective suits, tested radiation detectors, and ministered to about 100 U.S. Navy recruit victims. The Navy volunteers were posing as victims of a dirty bomb that had exploded, leaving them with deadly radioactive cesium on their skin. Doctors and nurses would risk their own lives if they began treating the wounded before they are cleansed of radiation. The dirty bomb scenario was worked out in conjunction with the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.