X-raying personal protective equipment

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Nick Shackleton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:12:54 GMT

Like I said in my above post in my current job our PPE are imaged using fluroscopy. You might be best contacting your RPA they will be able to give you information on what to do. They ideally need to be done on a yearly basis

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Sarah Southworth RVN CertVNECC — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:40:47 GMT

Hi everyone,

I need to x-ray ours too, not had to do it before. What should i do? xray the whole gown sqaure by square, and should i put the scissors on the plate, and the gown on top?

Sorry for questions, mine is not digital though , any advise would be much appreciated.

what exposure should i go for?

What sort of records should be kept?

thanks in advance

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Anna Rayne — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:20:43 GMT

We've just opened a new branch and need to do initial rads on our PPE, anyone know what sort of setting eg, equivalent to animal view and size that we should be using, eg cat/ large dog thorax? I never done this myself before.

If it makes any difference we have DR digital xray.

I can't find any records of settings at the main branch and we need to do a comparitive view of new to old equipment too. Think the sleeves at other branch may need replacing.

Anyone have a proper protocol for doing them too.

Thanks

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Nick Shackleton — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:00:14 GMT

HELLO!!!!

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Vicky RVN — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:50:28 GMT

The poster above your last post is Nick

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Bex Wilton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:24:06 GMT

Hey,

Thanks for you replies,

I think I may have used to high a setting to do the test, I used the same settings as previously used (these were copied from the previous nurses note book). The images from the newest gown clearly shows folds in the interior 'lead' which does pose the risk of cracking in the future.

We dont hold for xrays un-less there is no other way ie sedation/Ga pose a greater risk to animal.

I am probably being very nieve but who is Nick? Would love to pick his brain if he is the xray king!

Yes, I realise gowns are meant for protection from scatter but I have no idea on how to test this, apart from the fact that non of our personal dose meters have ever registered a reading, but is this sufficient for colleges as we are a training practice?

Thanks again for you feedback.

Bex

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Nick Shackleton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:42:07 GMT

[quote user="Katie Mansfield"]

Are you in equine practice? Really in SA you shouldn't be routinely holding animals for XRays and therefore not needing lead gowns.

[/quote]

I used to work in 100% SA referral centred and we used to inflate CXR and also we used to have Fluroscopy and had PPE for this purpose also.

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]

was the new xray taken on the same setting as the previous xrays? ie do you have a standard setting when you are doing these checks? - but agreed you shouldnt be seeing scissors

[/quote]

I agree with Sal. Check your settings. Couldn't possibly give you settings thou as where I currently work (NHS) our PPE is fluro'd on a yearly basis, to check for cracks. I would be a bit concerned if you can see the scissors, but it may indicate that your settings are too high?

I think I would suggest contacting you RPA (check your local rules, as to who this is) they will be able to advise you on what to do next.

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Sal the 1st — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:14:45 GMT

was the new xray taken on the same setting as the previous xrays? ie do you have a standard setting when you are doing these checks? - but agreed you shouldnt be seeing scissors

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Stuart McQueen RVN MBVNA — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:47:31 GMT

Nick would be the best one to ask... he's like the King of X-rays... I think it's how he sees the world...

But you should remember that the gown is designed to protect from scatter - not direct exposure... but I don't think you should be seeing the scissors at all...

Re: X-raying personal protective equipment

Katie Mansfield — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:18:35 GMT

I doubt the digital machine would have any bearing on the gowns no longer being radiation proof. It's more likely they've cracked. Please correct me, other ppl, if that's wrong.

Are you in equine practice? Really in SA you shouldn't be routinely holding animals for XRays and therefore not needing lead gowns.

K x