Medical management principles for radiation accidents.

The medical management of radiation accidents requires intensive planning and action. This article looks at the medical management of recent radiation accidents to derive principles for structuring and organizing the treatment of patients who may have radiation-induced health impairments. Although the radiation accidents in Tokai-mura, Japan and Lilo, Georgia were small-scale accidents, they illustrate important and characteristic symptoms and clinical developments. There are lessons to be learned and conclusions to be drawn for the military medical officers concerned with problems of medical management after radiation accidents.