Defense Nuclear Agency intermediate dose program: an overview (effects of total-body irradiation on the performance of personnel in Army combat crews)

The objective of this research was to provide the quantitative basis for predicting performance decrement in Army crewmen irradiated with less than 4500 rads (cGy). The data were obtained using a questionnaire derived from detailed information on radiation sickness and analysis of 15 combat crew tasks. The questionnaire, which asked for quantitative information on the impact of radiation sickness symptoms on the performance of sub-tasks, was administered to experts in the performance of the combat tasks. The results obtained in this effort clearly demonstrate that this methodology can be used to obtain meaningful estimates of the impact of very hazardous environments on performance. Comparison of the results from this study with those from studies which have directly assessed the effects of sickness on performance suggests that this questionnaire approach could successfully be applied to the evaluation of other hazardous environments in other military systems.