Re: Contamination from Nuc Med patients

[Ryanchp <Ryanchp@aol.com>]

Bill,

By now all the Tc99m has decayed away that caused the contamination.

1. Our hospital in Albany,NY isolates about 200 "white bags" of patient wastes
from the floors to the waste handling facilities each year. To do this we
installed a monitoring system 3 years ago.  Also about 10 "red bags" are
isolated ecach year.
We expect contamination to occur in patients that have had Nuclear Medicine
procedures.

2.  Decon of areas, when necessary, is done by house cleaning staff supervised
by either HP or Nuc. Med. Tech.  We do not make swipe surveys of patient rooms
who were in the diagnostic procedure category.  The hazard to all is very
small and the radioactivity decays away quickly.

3.  With all that is said you must follow the regulatory guidance provided by
your license or the applicable regulatory agency.

4.  Good Luck!

Bob Ryan, CHP
ryanchp@aol.com