Re: hospital contamination incident

["Michael G. Stabin" <michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu>]

> 1.  Perception is reality; just deal with it.  This isn't going to

> change.



I know you're never going to stop saying it, Bill, but saying something does

not make it right, and I will continue to disagree.



> 3.  Whomever said, "Accidents happen, go on," had it 1/2 right.  It

> should be,"Accidents happen, find out why, make sure the same accident

> doesn't happen again, go on."



Absolutely agreed. I might further modify it: "Accidents happen, find out

why, make sure the same accident doesn't happen again, do not respond to the

accident out of proportion to its significance, go on." We can gain the

trust of our workers and the public with a balanced, intelligent approach to

radiation safety and risk. Running around and screaming and bringing in

response teams and 3 dozen regulators when there is the possibility of a

femtosievert of overexposure may be the current *perception* of how to do

good health physics, but it's not reflected in the reality. Good scientists

should not continue to convey incorrect impressions of reality, in fact they

should work to *counter* wrong impressions and bring about new, and more

correct "perceptions".



Mike





Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP

Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Vanderbilt University

1161 21st Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37232-2675

Phone (615) 343-0068

Fax   (615) 322-3764

e-mail     michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu

internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com



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