ISRRT_August_2006

Report
International Action Plan for the Radiological Protection of Patients
Report of the Second Steering Panel Meeting
Madrid
February 8-10, 2006
Report by Mary Jon Lachance
Historical background
THE IAEA is authorised by its Statute to “establish standards of safety for protection of health and to provide for the application
of these standards”. The relevant safety standards are the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against
Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (the BSS). The BSS specifically address the radiological protection
of patients by placing requirements on responsibilities and training, justification, optimization (design and operational considerations,
including calibration, clinical dosimetry and quality assurance), guidance levels, and investigation of accidental
medical exposure.
The Agency, in responding to the importance of this issue, organised, in collaboration with other international organisations
and Professional Bodies, the International Conference on the Radiological Protection of Patients in Diagnostic and Interventional
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy, which was held in March 2001 in Málaga, Spain. The findings and
recommendations of this Conference included a request to the Agency to formulate an action plan based on the findings of the
Conference for future work relating to the radiological protection of patients. The International Action Plan on the Radiological
Protection of Patients was prepared and approved by the Agency’s governing bodies in 2002.
In 2003 a Steering Panel was established to keep under review the implementation of the activities under the Action Plan
with a view to providing guidance, on a continuing basis, on the overall approach to the implementation of the Action Plan
and to make proposals for adjustments, as may appear necessary..
The purpose of the current Steering Panel meeting was to review progress so far, provide specific advice on topics identified
by the Scientific Secretary and primarily identify future directions of importance for radiation protection of the patient in
medicine. The status report was reviewed and the Panel felt that given the resources available, the overall the effort as well as
quality of the work to date was excellent.
Recommendations on future directions in the eight topical areas have been provided. The first five listed are of critical
importance, and the latter three are important but less urgent.
1. Education & Training
The Panel took note of the ongoing activities undertaken
by the Agency in terms of training material and syllabus
development, educational CDs and their wider dissemination
as free material and its availability on some websites,
including the upcoming Radiological Protection of Patients
(RPoP) website and collaboration with Professional Societies
and International Organizations. The materials currently
available as draft CDs are focused on the following topics:
Radiation Protection in Digital Radiology, Computed Tomography,
and Accident Prevention in Radiotherapy. The
cardiology CD has undergone testing and review, and is in
the advanced stage of finalization. Upcoming CDs include:
Radiation Protection in PET/CT, Paediatric Radiology and
Radiation Protection for non-radiologists/non-cardiologists.
Recommendation: The Panel recommends the continuation
of these actions.
Issues pertaining to professionals in different areas are:
1a. Physicists
Substantial material is currently available from different
sources. The educational material available from IOMP,
IRPA and IAEA should be shared and harmonized where
appropriate.
1b. Radiographers/Radiological Technologists
Program s and documents will appropriately involve consultation
with ISRRT, WHO, PAHO, ISR and ESTRO.
Radiological & Nuclear Medicine: The initial training
and certification programs are mostly country specific
and they are variable. The Panel suggests an initial trial
12 ISRRT Newsletter