[ RadSafe ] FW: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts]Re:BestDosimeter/Personal Rad Monitor

[Cary Renquist]

Yes, training is very important.
The nature of radiation is one problem.... They will always get a reading off of something like a package containing radioactive material.  Most of the other detectors that first responders use only give a signal if something is wrong e.g. a leaking chemical.
When DHS first received their "pagers" I often received calls in the middle of the night because they walked by our package and it was leaking radiation.

Since I don't have much hands-on experience with these detectors I can't offer any real advice on detector selection.

Cary

---
Cary Renquist
Direct:   +1 661-309-1033
cary.renquist at ezag.com


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of ??? ???
Sent: Sunday, 09 August 2009 02:59
To: Brennan, Mike (DOH); brent.keate at colorado.edu
Cc: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] FW: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts]Re:BestDosimeter/Personal Rad Monitor

Excellent point Mike,
I share same experience training hospital first receivers and Hazmat teams who are in charge of all other hazmats except group 7....And Brent, also, daily use of PRDs is essential in addition to ongoing training. If PRDs are stored in some "Emergency Equipment Storage" and first responders will use them only on a yearly, or even 6 months training and drills - do not buy them. Regarding budget - remember yearly calibration expenses. So - you should calculate overall life cycle cost.

Best Regards
Moshe Keren
Head of Ionizing Inspection Unit
Ministry of Environmental Protection,
Israel   

בברכה
 
משה קרן     M.Occ.H.,
 
ממונה פיקוח ארצי – קרינה        
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Brennan, Mike (DOH)
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 6:29 PM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Cc: brent.keate at colorado.edu
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] FW: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts] Re:BestDosimeter/Personal Rad Monitor

I think the most important advice it to budget in TRAINING for the
people who will get the equipment, both initial and ongoing.  Otherwise
I suspect the most likely outcome of buying these devices will be that
they get tossed into lockers by people who believe (possibly correctly)
that they already have enough crap hanging off of them, with the second
most likely outcome being an embarrassing false positive, with bad PR
and possibly people dying.  

I have provided training for firefighters, and it is amazing the depth
for fear of radiation that they displayed.  These are people who have
"enter burning building" in their job description, but they said (at the
beginning of class) that if they pulled up on a call and "the radiation
alarm" went off, they would call it in and wait until HAZMAT got there,
no matter what else was going on.

"Hardware is useless without software; Software is useless without
training."
				 

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Roger Helbig
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 2:18 AM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Cc: brent.keate at colorado.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] FW: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts] Re:
BestDosimeter/Personal Rad Monitor

Brent Keate of the University of Colorado (brent.keate at colorado.edu )
has posted this to the Geiger Counter list - I am sure that some of you
might have some good advice for Brent and his university.

 

Roger Helbig

 

From: GeigerCounterEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:GeigerCounterEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Brent
Keate
Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 8:56 AM
To: GeigerCounterEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [GeigerCounterEnthusiasts] Re: Best Dosimeter/Personal Rad
Monitor

 

Homeland Security has authorized some funds for our institution to
purchase some Dosimeters/Personal Rad Monitors for first responders on
campus.  Does anyone have some input as to what might be the best to
purchase?  We got a quote from our sister group, UCHSC, for a Model
1703M-01 from BNC.  This unit looks great in that it has a CsI (Tl) and
a G-M tube detector and stores the event data for later analysis which
is important as most of these units will go to CU Police and FD
personnel.  Does anyone have a suggestion as to what else I might
compare this unit to or any input from those who have actually used this
unit?

 

 

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