The International Thriller Writers recently interviewed John Darrin, a consultant on radiological emergency preparedness, and the author of the techno-thriller Screenshot. Darrin talked about his work in Homeland Security, his new book, and his life as a full-time vagabond living in an RV.
Responding to their questions, Darrin tells about his work with local, state, and Federal government agencies in planning for the safety of responders to radiological emergencies such as terrorist attacks. “My career has led me all over the world,” he said. “I gravitated to homeland security when it became one of the primary radiation safety concerns.”
As the host and moderator of a web site designed to provide news, training and information for emergency responders to radiological emergencies , www.radsafeinfo.com, he fills a gap that he sees in the preparedness for a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb explosion. Citing his years of working with emergency responders at all levels, he believes the resources and training for the various emergency workers who will be needed to respond and recover is inadequate, particularly for those “second responders” who will be drafted from their jobs as bus drivers and heavy equipment operators and utility workers and thrust into a potentially hazardous environment.
His qualifications include “some very unusual projects, like the first decommissioning of a radiological research laboratory and several nuclear reactors, the recovery after the Three Mile Island accident, and even on the treatment of nuclear weapons waste in China.”
Darrin’s wife died of Mad Cow Disease in 2007, and he now lives full-time in a surprisingly luxurious recreational vehicle, traveling for his work, his writing, and for the adventure. He journals about the trip on one of his several blogs, http://thegoplacesmeetpeopledothingstour.blogspot.com/
Darrin will be making book signing and speaking appearances in Tucson, Phoenix, and San Diego in the coming weeks. Full tour and event information is available on his web site, www.johndarrin.com.
ITW (http://www.thrillerwriters.org/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/




