From the November 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCB NEWS: Do you have a radiation safety officer?
JR: Yes. The officer is shared with the University of Cincinnati to make sure all necessary testing and equipment is appropriate.
HCB NEWS: Where does the responsibility for radiation fall? Individual? Radiation safety officer? Administration?
JR: I think it’s always a combined team effort and responsibility. The team is greater than each individual. The team can always have a greater impact. However, as the leader of the procedure the interventional radiologist needs to take responsibility to set the tone that it’s OK and a good thing for people to speak up about radiation safety.
HCB NEWS: Do you have a sense of personal responsibility, and has that changed from when you started, to this time in your career?
JR: I’ve always felt it was my responsibility, and that attitude hasn’t changed. Having the dosage monitoring system that we have now makes it easier for that responsibility to be shared among the entire IR team. That culture of awareness is ingrained in our interventional department.
HCB NEWS: What is your perspective on real-time dosimetry in the discipline of minimally invasive vascular surgery?
JR: It increases everyone’s awareness. X-rays are something you don’t see. It’s more difficult to be aware of something that is invisible. The visual display increases everyone’s awareness.
HCB NEWS: What sort of basic safety features are used in the discipline, how does real-time radiation dose monitoring add to this?
JR: We have the basic lead aprons/vests/skirts, table side and hanging lead shielding, and leaded lenses for glasses. Companies also equip systems with buzzers or bells to go off to alert you of prolonged fluoroscopy exposure times. Unfortunately, some places disable this feature because it becomes an annoyance. And even if it’s not disabled, it can become easy to “tune out.” It’s like a car alarm. When car alarms were new it caught your attention. Now it’s just part of the background noise.
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