Re: Children: rad exposure from Nuc Med patients -Reply

["J. J. Rozental" <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>]

Thank you very much for your 

At 03:30 PM 1/20/98 -0600, you wrote:
>The observations made by Prof Rozental and Franz Schoenhofer are
>right. 
>
>However(with respect, sirs), they do represent the ideal : it is a very
>common experience at this children's hospital for one adult to arrive with
>the paediatric patient and accompanied by several other children.   The
>other children are often of an age where they cannot be left
>unsupervised (and sometimes can't be separated from the parent). 
>
>In context, though, the diagnostic doses given to children result in quite
>low exposures, and a quick, single visit by the whole family, though it
>should be discouraged, does not usually result in more than a trivial
>exposure.   Our Nuclear Medicine Technologists, for example, do not
>accumulate even 10mSv in a year's full time work with these (and other)
>patients, and rarely exceed even 5mSv. 
>
>Thus, it is always important to give weight to the    Reasonably
>Achievable    part of ALARA. 
>
>
>Mark Hanlon,
>Radiation Safety Officer,
>The New Children's Hospital,
>P.O. Box 3515,
>PARRAMATTA, NSW, 2124
>Australia
>
>
>Phone   61 2 9845 3324           FAX    61 2 9845 0831
>
>email      markh@nch.edu.au
>
>
=======================
Dear Mark

Thank you very much for your observation. I have been in many developing
countries, and I visited many institutions using radionuclide. For this
reason I understand very well  what you are talking about. It is a not easy
task  follow good Radiation Protection Procedures,  specially if we consider
that:

a) There are few Member States that do not have any infrastructure of
radiation safety;

b) In several other Member States, although a minimum infrastructure is
formally in place, the actual level of radiation safety does not meet
minimum requirements

This is a situation of great concern.

For this reason, when you wrote: "Thus, it is always important to give
weight to the    Reasonably Achievable part of ALARA" the answer for this is
just the implementation of:

a) minimum radiation safety  requirements and an integrated strategy aiming
at establishing an adequate safety infrastructure;

b) Safety Culture toward the minimum requirement

Best Regards

J.J.Rozental <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>
Israel