Purpose or learning objective
Medical staff involved in interventions in interventional radiology are the most exposed group to occupational exposure and are therefore at higher risk of radiation-induced diseases. Therefore, the use of X-ray personal protective equipment (PPE) is an essential component of ensuring safe working conditions. PPE helps reduce occupational exposure from radiation following the as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) principle.
In the conditions of chronic distress from occupational and social factors, which is aggravated by living in the area of the military conflict in the Donbas...
Methods or background
Appropriate use of PPE has a substantial impact on reducing the risk of radiation exposure to health care workers, especially in interventional departments. Local radiation safety regulations do not describe a standard model of detailed inspection to ensure that that PPE is in good condition and there is no consensus on what constitutes an appropriate inspection program.
Our research and criteria for rejection of PPE were based on existing studies of the inspection of PPE [1-3].
PPE was inspected by the radiation safety office of...
Results or findings
A total of 53 radiation shields were examined in this study: 10 units from neuro and 43 from cardio surgery departments. Only 15% (8) units used not more than 5 years, the remaining ones have used of more than 10 years. This group of PPE used for a long time is characterized by the presence of multiple defects in [Fig 1] Figure 1. The results of the found defects are presented in Table 2. As we can see from [Fig 3]Table 2 the highest number...
Conclusion
The ongoing military conflict in the Donbas region since 2014, directly affects the shortage of funds in the health care system for the renewal of X-ray personal protective equipment, and the results of the audit show that the protective equipment should be renewal on the regular basis especially at interventional departments.
The suggested PPE assessment based on critical group identification and cost-benefit PPE renewal strategy is easy to perform in any health care facility not only with the fluoroscopic unit but with conventional X-ray and...
References
Lambert K, McKeon T. Inspection of lead aprons: criteria for rejection. Health Phys. 2001 May;80(5 Suppl): S67-9. DOI: 10.1097/00004032-200105001-00008. PMID: 11316086.
Michel R, Zorn MJ. Implementation of an X-ray radiation protective equipment inspection program. Health Phys. 2002 Feb;82(2 Suppl): S51-3. DOI: 10.1097/00004032-200202001-00012. PMID: 11797906.
Stam W, Pillay M. Inspection of lead aprons: a practical rejection model. Health Phys. 2008 Aug;95 Suppl 2:S133-6. DOI: 10.1097/01.HP.0000314763.19226.86. PMID: 18617796.
Personal information and conflict of interest
V. A. Bondarevskyi-Kolotii:
Nothing to disclose