RE: Badges for surgery

["Walter cofer" <talcofer@netzero.com>]

Decisions concerning PM always have pros and cons, and you must weigh them

carefully to decide your best course of action.  If personnel are

consistently receiving doses below 500 mrem/yr, 10 CFR Part 20 and

equivalent state rad. protection standards allow you to discontinue PM for

those individuals.  The workers' argument that swapping out their badges is

"difficult" is a weak one, but if you are encountering problems with keeping

accurate dose records due to their unwillingness to follow simple badge use

and exchange procedures, then discontinuing badges for those workers may be

the way to go.



However, you should balance the benefits of easing the administrative burden

of your PM program with the benefits of having dose records for those

workers.  Those records help limit your liability when facing workers comp

and other injury claims that they argue are related to their occupational

rad. exposures, particularly if they claim they received excessive and/or

unnecessary exposures; without the dose records, any argument that their

doses did not contribute to the injury/illness is weakened.  Of course, your

dose records must be accurate to have value; if they aren't, they can make

your problem worse.



Liability cases in the medical field are a growing problem, and they will

only get worse as the workforce ages and more workers get cancer.  Don Jose

and David Wiedis of Jose & Wiedis, Attorneys at Law (West Chester, PA)

authored an illuminating article called “Forewarned is Forearmed” on medical

rad. exposure lawsuits in a 1994 issue of Isotopics that I recommend you

read before making a final decision.  I have a copy somewhere that I could

probably dig up for you, or you could contact Jose & Wiedis directly; they

have handled a number of such cases over the years and have made a number of

presentations for the HPS on this subject over the years.



Good luck!



Walter Cofer, Program Consultant

FL Bureau of Radiation Control

Tallahassee, FL



(Usual disclaimers apply to the above statement; I'm not speaking on behalf

of my agency...)





-----Original Message-----

From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of JGarrett@mbhs.org

Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 4:25 PM

To: 'radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu'

Subject: Badges for surgery





Dear List Members:



I am currently in the midst of discussing the use of badges for our surgery

department - by badges, I of course meaning radiation exposure monitoring

badges. There are a few individuals in the department that consistently

receive moderate exposures. Several others do receive low exposures, but

nothing to be really concerned about. However, because I do see readings on

their badges, I am not inclined to discontinue the surgery series. Surgery,

however wants to discontinue their badges. This is due primarily to the

rather "difficult" task of swapping out the badges. So I wanted to ask how

many RSOs out there still badge their Surgery departments.



Thanks in advance.



Jeffrey A. Garrett, MS, DABR

Chief Physicist

Mississippi Baptist Medical Center

1225 North State Street

Jackson, MS 39202



Office: 601-968-1725

Cancer Center: 601-968-1416 or 1420

Fax: 601-960-3317











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