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Laura Atwell, Health Physics News Contributing Editor

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) has published NCRP Commentary No. 33, Recommendations for Stratification of Equipment Use and Radiation Safety Training for Fluoroscopy.

In the practice of medicine, radiation safety training is necessary to protect both patients and workers. Recommendations regarding the content and extent of this training have been made by several organizations and professional societies, but these recommendations rarely provide detailed curricula for all staff involved in fluoroscopically guided procedures (FGP).

Commentary No. 33 provides guidance for the use of various types of fluoroscopes and for radiation safety curricula for individuals involved in FGP, based on the type of FGP and the individual's role. The intent is to define evidence-based, radiation-related categories for FGP based on radiation risk.

This commentary defines three risk-based classes of procedures, based on patient dose for individual procedures. These are used to provide radiation risk-related recommendations for the types of fluoroscopes suitable for each category of procedure.

• Class 1: Potentially high dose fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures

• Class 2: General fluoroscopic procedures

• Class 3: Very low dose fluoroscopic procedures

This commentary defines six training groups of facility staff based on their role in the fluoroscopy room and provides detailed training curricula for each group. The training groups are based on a combination of job descriptions and the procedures in which these individuals might be involved. Radiation-related training should not be limited only to staff who work in fluoroscopy rooms. Basic radiation safety training is also necessary for other staff in facilities that have fluoroscopic capabilities.

NCRP Commentary No. 33 is available on the NCRP website.