Dosimeters are retrospective tools that allow you to assess the
effectiveness of your radiation safety program. If you're following
good practice, the vast majority of your employees won't be getting
exposed to high amounts of radiation, so the results from the
dosimeters should be negligible. In lieu of having professionals on
hand to determine who needs these devices, it's easier to badge
everyone who works imaging cases.
Maintain perspective
We're all exposed to about 3 millisieverts of natural radiation each
year. The effective dose of a chest CT is about 5 millisieverts, which
is equivalent to about a year and change of our natural exposure. Yes,
you're working with radiation, but if you understand the fundamen-
tals of time, distance and shielding, you can easily keep your occupa-
tional exposure well within the variation we're exposed to by simply
walking outside.
OSM
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 7
Mr. Bohan (mike.bohan@yale.edu) is the radiation safety officer at Yale New
Haven Hospitals in New Haven, Conn.