Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2020
Keywords:
Not applicable, Education and training, Radiation safety, Education, Digital radiography, Conventional radiography, Radioprotection / Radiation dose, Action 7 - Radiation protection of children
Authors:
R. Marsh, S. McKenney, D. P. Frush, K. J. Strauss, B. Schueler, D. Gress, C. H. McCollough
DOI:
10.26044/esi2020/ESI-03521
Background/introduction
Recommendations to use gonadal shielding have been present for several decades and are found in guidance documents around the world. In 2019, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) published a Position Statement recommending discontinuation of the use of gonadal shielding.
To date, this statement has been endorsed by leading medical imaging and radiation safety organizations from across the globe.
Given the growing consensus that the time has come to discontinue the routine use of gonadal and fetal shielding in medical imaging, the development and communication of strategies to makes changes to clinical practice have begun.
To accomplish these tasks in a coordinated fashion across multiple stakeholder groups, a multi-disciplinary effort to develop resources for care providers, patients, and parents was initiated by the AAPM in 2019. The Ad Hoc Committee appointed to guide this effort includes members from over 14 professional organizations, representing medical and health physicists; radiologic technologists and organizations that oversee educational programs for radiologic technologists; radiologists; and state regulators. This engaged community of stakeholders is referred to using the acronym “CARES,” which stands for Communicating Advances in Radiation Education for Shielding ( Fig. 1 ).
Link to AAPM CARES
Link to CARES on Facebook
Link to CARES on Twitter
The science demonstrating the reasons to discontinue shielding are provided in a sister poster: ESI-08697 The Practice of Routine Gonadal Shielding in Children: Looking Beyond “the Surface"