The Institute of Medicine will convene an ad hoc committee with experts in emergency medical response and treatment, medical and public health preparedness, health sciences research, and nuclear medicine to organize a public workshop on medical preparedness for a nuclear event. The workshop will feature invited presentations and discussions that assess the health care capacity to treat an affected population with the goal of assuring a safe and effective response to nuclear incidents by civilian and government medical systems and public health services. Specifically, an agenda for the workshop will be developed with topics to:

1. Review and assess the available healthcare capacity to treat the affected population;
2. Examine the capacity and identify gaps in the capability of the Federal, State and local authorities to deliver available medical countermeasures in a timely enough way to be effective.
3. Assess the available treatments for pertinent radiation illnesses including the efficacy of medical countermeasures; and, 
4. Appraise the expected benefit of medical countermeasures, including those currently under development.