Hospitals plan for terror attacks

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Emergency procedures to lock down certain hospitals in the event of a radioactive terrorist attack have been drawn up, the BBC has learned.

The measure is part of ongoing preparations to cope with any attack using chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the security services have long warned of this scenario.

However, there is no currently no specific information about such a plot.

Preparations to deal with a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack, known as 'CBRN', include what is known as 'a lockdown'.

This is an emergency procedure for keeping away victims contaminated by dangerous radioactive dust from hospitals, so as not to contaminate others inside.

Police - and possibly the Army - would be deployed in protective clothing to form a cordon outside hospitals near the source of the radioactivity.

They would direct victims instead to mobile tents called 'Mass Treatment Centres'.

Bed shortages

The Home Office says it has provided 360 decontamination units for use around the country but according to Dr Brooke Rogers, from King's College London, the government does not have enough resources to cope with such an attack.

"In terms of responding to a radiological attack I would not say that we have the facilities to respond to that... we don't have enough beds to begin with for people who aren't radioactive.

"There is an issue of funding - we don't even have enough decontamination tents, if we take them to the scene of the accident it's a long process so it's quite a big issue".

Analysts predict that in the event of such an attack there would actually be few extra casualties caused by radiation.

The biggest problems, they believe, would be the psychological impact on the population and the long-term economic effects of built-up areas being contaminated, albeit for a limited period.

As part of the government's strategy, the exact situation surrounding a CBRN attack would be communicated to the public and advice would be given on where to get treatment.