In this work the problem of transient energy transport in a conductive, emitting, and scattering medium is addressed. A new approach for describing the transient response of a participating one-dimensional layer subjected to a finite laser pulse is presented. The model considers heat transport in one dimension by conduction and radiation, where the radiative field is described by the two-flux approximation. The material is assumed to be gray, homogeneous, and isotropic, with physical and optical properties dependent on temperature. Numerical results have been obtained on a layer of low optical thickness using the thermophysical properties of zirconia as a typical material.