[ RadSafe ] Errors expose patients to radiation

[Muckerheide, James]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
> Behalf Of John Jacobus
> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 9:06 AM

<snip> 
> Second, using the public limit of 1.0 mSv makes no
> sense.  The public limit is from man-made souces and
> is EXCLUSIVE of medical exposures.

Of course, because my physiological response to 1 Sv of medical exposure (or
is that just medical over-exposure?) is much less than my response to 1 mSv
from "man-made" sources?  (As though medical exposure isn't?)

Regards, Jim Muckerheide
=========================
 
> Third, this is obviously a selected study of reported
> incidences only.
> 
> Note:  Some people are annoyed by reports of
> "overexposures" to nuclear power workers.  I have the
> annoyance to patient overexposure reports.
> 
> --- Marcel Schouwenburg
> <M.Schouwenburg at TNW.TUDelft.NL> wrote:
> 
> > Received through another list (srp)
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Sunday Herald reports Errors expose patients to
> > radiation
> >
> > http://www.sundayherald.com/51922
> >
> > MORE than 500 people have been accidentally
> > overexposed to radiation in
> > hospitals across Scotland in the past 10 years.
> > More than four-fifths of them were patients having
> > X-rays, CAT
> > (computer-assisted tomography) scans or radiation
> > therapy, while the rest
> > were hospital staff. The accidents were caused by
> > human errors, procedural
> > mistakes, equipment failures and spillages.
> >
> > In a few cases, unborn babies were inadvertently
> > given large doses of
> > radiation far in excess of the safety limits. In
> > other instances, people
> > were wrongly X-rayed, given repeat scans or badly
> > injected.
> >
> > Hospitals have also lost or mislaid radiation
> > sources . All sources are
> > meant to be secured to prevent them being stolen by
> > terrorists and used in
> > "dirty bombs".
> >
> > The revelations, contained in a new NHS study, have
> > worried politicians, who
> > are calling for action to cut the number of
> > accidents. The government's
> > radiation watchdog, the Health Physics Service, says
> > it is important to keep
> > radiation doses as low as possible, especially for
> > children and pregnant
> > women.
> >
> > Radiation is a common tool in medicine throughout
> > the developed world.
> > X-rays and CAT scans help diagnose a wide range of
> > health problems, while
> > radioactive chemicals are put in the body as tracers
> > and used, externally
> > and internally, to destroy cancers. However, all
> > radiation is potentially
> > dangerous, and extra doses can increase the risk of
> > cancer.
> >
> > Colin Martin, head of the Health Physics Service for
> > NHS hospitals in the
> > west of Scotland, has analysed 606 incidents
> > reported since 1995.
> >
> > In 423 incidents patients were overexposed to
> > radiation, and in 114 cases
> > hospital staff were overexposed or contaminated. The
> > commonest reason was
> > staff error, followed by equipment failure. In more
> > than one in 10 cases the
> > wrong patient was scanned or treated . Sometimes the
> > wrong part of the body
> > was X-rayed .
> >
> > Patients were also given repeat scans because staff
> > forgot to change the
> > film, machines were left on or computers crashed.
> > Staff were contaminated by
> > slips while giving injections, or by urine or vomit
> > from radiotherapy
> > patients.
> >
> > In a third of the incidents the radiation dose was
> > above the annual safety
> > limit for the public of one mSv (milliSievert). In
> > half a dozen cases the
> > doses were more than 20 times in excess of the
> > limit. Four of the highest
> > exposures were to pregnant women.
> >
> > In most cases, patients were probably informed about
> > the errors at the time.
> > Martin, who is based at Gartnavel Royal Hospital in
> > Glasgow, pointed out
> > that the mistakes represented a very small fraction
> > of the million or more
> > radiation procedures carried out in the west of
> > Scotland every year.
> >
> > "There is no reason to suspect that the number of
> > radiation incidents in the
> > west of Scotland is different from that in other
> > parts of the UK," he told
> > the Sunday Herald.
> >
> > "By encouraging a more open reporting system, the
> > Health Physics Service is
> > able to investigate the causes of incidents, so that
> > procedures can be
> > improved. The risks of any health consequences from
> > exposure to radiation at
> > these levels are very low."
> >
> > But Dr Eleanor Scott MSP, health speaker for the
> > Scottish Green Party,
> > stressed that "any unnecessary exposure to radiation
> > should be avoided".
> >
> > The study is being published in next month's British
> > Journal of Radiology.
> >
> > . . .
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++
> "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tired anything new."
> -- Albert Einstein
> 
> -- John
> John Jacobus, MS
> Certified Health Physicist
> e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com
> 
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