Radiological Emergency Management

High doses of radiation kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading, while at low doses radiation is used to see insides of the human body, such as x-rays (WebMD).

I hope to continue my education by attending West Virginia University. At WVU, I plan to study to become a radiology technician. I have always dreamed of working in the medical field. Radiology technicians are people who take x-rays, MRIs, mammograms, and images like that. The technician is also in charge of making sure the patient is safe in the process of imaging being taken. After completing my studies at WVU, I wish to find an available job in the state of West Virginia or a surrounding state. I have always dreamed of working the medical field, and being a radiology technician seems to be the career for

The average annual radiation dose received by Americans is 360 millirems (or "mrems"), about 300 of which come from naturally occurring sources like radon. By contrast, you would get only 0.01 mrems per year as a result of living 50 feet from a nuclear power plant. Even a single annual cross-country airplane flight exposes you to 3 mrems, while a medical X-ray gives you a dose of 20 mrems.

What are the differences between professional component and technical component of radiological services? Knowing the difference is extremely important because the difference can mean a monetary difference to the physician, on how much reimbursement will be. Knowing this and knowing which to bill for also makes an important difference. The professional component covers what the physician does, which is the interpretation, and nothing else. The technical component covers any equipment used, facilities, non-medical staff, and supplies, everything needed for the procedure, except the physician. We also should include the global billing, because that is when all charges, including the physician, and the equipment, facilities, and such were completed at one location. Global is a combination of professional and technical charges because all services were performed at one location. There are modifier codes that are added at the end of the procedure codes that indicate what type of service that is being billed.

According to Ecker and Bramesco, the majority of the understanding of the effects of radiation comes from the research from the atomic bombings of the town of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (107). There is a greater effect when a dose of radiation is given all at once rather than over an extended period of time (105), However, as soon as radiation hits an individual there are some immediate effects and more long term effects. Some long issues that has come up due to the radiation of the atomic bomb were the more frequent cases of leukemia, cancer, and cataracts than people who weren’t affected from radiation (Ecker and Bramseco 107). Also, mutations can be a long term effect. Naturally, mutations occur at a low rate. Radiation can increase the number of mutation cases because it is a mutagen (Nasr and Hoyle). Some short term effects would be radiation sickness called acute somatic effects. Acute means severe and somatic means ‘related to the body’. The first signs of radiation sickness are nausea, throwing-up, and fever and

Beta radiation is an electron with the charge of -1. Its atomic number is -1 and atomic mass is 0. It is more penetrating than alpha radiation plus, has a less ionising power than alpha. It absorbed by thin aluminium sheet and used to control the thickness of different material such as thickness of the paper, plastic and aluminium. They use a detector to check if there is more or less particle being released or absorb. If the material is thicker then it need to the material will start to absorb the particle however if the material is too thin more beta particle will start to pass through, that’s how they finds out the thickness of the material. It is not very dangerous if it goes into our body because it usually get through the body, however it is very dangerous if it outside the body because it can penetrate the skin and cause damage to human cells. It is deflected by electrical and magnetic field because it has negative charge as I said positive and negative attract to each other.

The quality of medical imaging is of the utmost importance in terms of safety, and must be strictly regulated through federal legislature in addition to state legislature, ensuring the persons administering radiation are held to the highest of standards. Successfully completing accredited programs in radiologic sciences, having thorough knowledge of and resolute compliance with the rules of ethics, as well as achieving certification through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (A.R.R.T.) by means of examination warrants an imaging professional with the tools necessary to provide and maintain a safe environment for themselves and their patients alike. Respectively, all of these components contribute to a health care professional’s

Issue: In medicine, radioisotopes are bonded with chemical compounds to form radioactive tracers, which are then injected into the patient’s bloodstream. The radiation emitted by the tracers allows doctors to obtain images of organ systems, facilitating the early and accurate diagnosis of disease. However, to avoid radio- active contamination, care must be taken in the storage, use, and disposal of this material.

should still be responsible for the people that were exposed to the radiation is because it could spread and accidently cause other to suffer and could help support the people suffering from the radiation. Radiation is energy and it can come from unstable atoms or it can be produced by machines. Radiation travels from its source in the form of energy waves or energized particles. There are actually two kinds of radiation, and one is more energetic than the other. It has so much energy it can knock electrons out of atoms, a process known as ionization. This ionizing radiation can affect the atoms in living things, so it poses a health risk by damaging tissue and DNA in genes. While there are other, less energetic, types of nonionizing radiation (including radio waves, microwaves—and visible light), this booklet is about ionizing radiation (Baes). According to illinoispoisoncenter, radiation comes from the sun and outer space, from man-made sources such as X-ray machines, and from some radioactive materials in soil. Even though radiation cannot technically spread from person to person, we encounter some radiation from foods, water, the air, our own bodies, and through medical procedures throughout our daily life and never usually receive too much that would cause

Due to the smaller mass, it is able to travel further in air, up to a few meters, and can be stopped by a thick piece of plastic, or even a stack of paper. It can penetrate skin a few centimeters, posing somewhat of an external health risk. However, the main threat is still primarily from internal emission from ingested material. Gamma radiation, unlike alpha or beta, does not consist of any particles, instead consisting of a photon of energy being emitted from an unstable nucleus. Having no mass or charge, gamma radiation can travel much farther through air than alpha or beta, losing on average half its energy for every 500 feet.

Have you ever had an x-ray taken or perhaps had a sonogram done? If so then you probably met a radiologic technologist. A radiologic technologist is a person that is trained in using x-ray and ultrasound imaging technology as a diagnostic tool or as a part of a patient’s treatment plan. A radiologic technologist creates images of specific areas and parts of the human body, including bones, tissue, blood vessels, and organs. They may also perform such imaging procedures such as mammography, x-rays, sonography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Radiologic technologists work under the supervision of radiologists trained to read and interpret medical

There are very few radiation effects that are suffered physically by people struck by modern nuclear disasters. Rather, mental illness is the biggest risk. This was reported by the authors of many papers in The Lancet.

As the administrator of the Radiology Department, I am not only in charge of managing day-to-day operations, but also have to develop the capital budget. Upon developing the capital budget, it was decided that the budget for the fiscal year would be one million dollars. As well as developing the budget, the task falls upon me to decide where the money will be allocated. Within an organization there are several budgets that arise such as, an expense budget, a revenue budget, and the one at hand, the capital budget. Unlike other budgets, the capital budget is one where one has to “select long-term assets, whose useful life is greater than one year… items typically include…routine capital equipment.” (Pg205). Two requests were submitted from the Mammography department, as well as the MRI department. Being placed in charge of making this decision, I now face the challenge of having to decide which departments request will be approved. Approving both requests would exceed the capital budget, due to the fact that both requests individually cost eight hundred thousand dollars. In order to come to a decision, as an administrator it is critical that I

The use of radioactive elements in medicine is still growing to this day. Many oncologists use it to treat their patients who have cancer. Many cancer patients use this option. They use the radiation to kill off cancer cells. X-ray technicians or radiologists will also use it to administer x-rays to people who may have a broken bone, or need an MRI. The patient is injected with a radioactive material that helps the doctor be able to see inside the body better, whether it be with pictures or ultrasound. Radioactive material is defined as “material that contains radioactivity and thus emits ionizing radiation. It may be material that contains natural radioactivity from the environment or a material that may have been made radioactive.” (The Healthy Physics Society). This happens when someone needs a colonoscopy. They have to drink or are injected with this liquid that helps their organs and all other masses in the body be seen better by the radioactive materials.

radiation (the kind used in X-rays) is known to cause cancer at high doses, the risks of