[Intl_DxMedPhys] For Ohio physicists

[Ryan Fisher]

We (and several other local institutions that I’ve had conversations with) aren’t changing our policies on this for the exact reasons you brought up. It’s basically impossible to police and looks like a pretty short, slippery, downhill path to no one wearing lead in the OR. “Everyone in the room needs protection” is a way easier policy to enforce.

Ryan

From: Intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list <intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list-bounces+rfisher1=metrohealth.org at lists.osu.edu> On Behalf Of Bob Kobistek via Intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 10:29 AM
To: intl_dxmedphys_wd_osu_list at lists.osu.edu
Subject: [Intl_DxMedPhys] For Ohio physicists

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Sorry for clogging up an international list for an Ohio-specific question, but others may have input as well. New ODH regulations that went into effect last month now allow personnel participating in fluoroscopic procedures to be present in
Sorry for clogging up an international list for an Ohio-specific question, but others may have input as well.

New ODH regulations that went into effect last month now allow personnel participating in fluoroscopic procedures to be present in the procedure room without a protective apron if the physicist provides time and distance limitations. In other words, I can do calculations and allow certain members of OR staff to be in surgery cases as long as they stay at least X meters away from the table for no more than Y minutes of fluoro per week. Here’s the new reg:

“Any individual who is in the room during the fluoroscopic procedure will be adequately protected by standing behind a whole body protective barrier or will wear a protective lead apron of not less than 0.25 millimeter lead equivalent. If a handler's radiation expert includes documented evidence and specifies in the quality assurance program a distance and time interval in the room from the source at which an individual is unlikely to receive a total effective dose equivalent of greater than two millirem in any one hour or one hundred millirem in a year, the handler can forgo the use of a protective barrier or lead apron for that time at that distance.”

My first comment is, “Are they serious?!!??” I see this as a nearly impossible option given that the responsibility will ultimately fall on us to show that we track the movements and exposure of these individuals exempted from wearing lead aprons. Also, the time / distance limitations are moving targets. Someone can be 3 meters from table for a longer time than 2 meters. And how is the unshielded person supposed to keep track of fluoro time?

Even if there are personnel that we can exempt from wearing aprons because they pop in and out of OR’s for short periods, I can see, down the road, inspectors looking for some sort of tracking to verify that they are not overstaying their allowed exposure time.

Are any Ohio physicists planning to take advantage of this new regulation? And if so, how are you addressing the issues I mentioned?


Robert J. Kobistek, MS, FACR, DABR, MRSE(MRSC™)
Medical Physicist
RJK Medical Physics, Inc.
440-463-7879

PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS Bob at RJKMedPhys.com<mailto:Bob at RJKMedPhys.com>


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