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Janet:
I know that this famous picture/story was also covered in the April 1989 Issue of National Geographic, "Living With Radiation". I do not have this issue, but perhaps someone out there in RADSAFE LAND has it (I'm unsure as to whether it goes into the assumed recovery phase of the man). Mary J. Reynolds, RSO
Janet Westbrook wrote: RadSafe Folks -- Many years ago, when I was a young, green rad protection person, I saw an article in a professional journal -- the Health Physics Journal, if memory serves, but it might have been another one -- on a radiography overexposure. The article was a followup report on a person who had been injured several years earlier by absentmindedly putting a radiography source in the back pocket of his trousers. A photo showed him from the rear, naked, with a chunk of flesh missing from one buttock and an ugly twisted scar across it. I am sure he needed a cushion under one side in order to sit comfortably. The text of the article related how the tissue had deteriorated and died over the weeks after the exposure. It also stated that he was impotent for a year or two after recovery and infertile for several years. Subsequently he and his wife had a baby girl, who at the time of the writing appeared to be okay. I think he resumed work as a radiographer. Did the guy die? No. Did he suffer adverse effects on his health that will continue all his life? No (unless he gets cancer from the exposure, unless his spinal disks deteriorate from the asymmetry, etc.). Did he suffer adverse effects on his quality of life, including his peace of mind about his future? Yes! This article made a big impression on me and with other similar articles affected my mindset about compliance issues and what dose means to the "little guy" as opposed to what it means to rad professionals. I hope that none of us makes a big fuss about truly negligible dose and truly minor errors, but I hope that we all realize that "little" noncompliances and "small" oversights in good practices can lead to serious and unforeseen consequences. We should not minimize the importance of formulating effective and practical rules and then making sure they are followed. &nb! ! ! sp; Janet Westbrook |