Entry #9: Protective Clothing and Equipment for Fluoroscopy

     Protecting yourself as a rad tech is highly important. With multiple, daily exposures to radiation, your annual dose will be much higher than the general public. You can take protective measures by wearing lead or lead equivalent clothing while performing fluoroscopic examinations. Aprons, hats, thyroid shields, glasses, and gloves are all available for purchase through many resources.

     Aprons will cover many important organs like the gonads and breasts. They come in various styles and patterns with varying weights depending on how thick the lead inside of them is. Some aprons like the one shown above provide great frontal coverage but do not defend you from the rear. You may want to be aware of how you maneuver around a fluoro unit if you are wearing one and try not to turn your back towards the source of radiation. Pregnant technologists must make sure to wear a full wrap-around apron around their waist to reduce exposure from all sides.

     Both technologists and radiologists alike will wear thyroid shields during procedures. Hats are less of a common standard piece of apparel in many facilities but may become more used in the future. It may not be a bad idea to invest in one now!

     Radiologists work very closely to the radiation field and will wear lead gloves when they need to reach under the radiation source.

    Lead glasses will do a wonderful job of protecting the lenses of your eyes, helping to reduce the risk of cataracts. These also come in many colors and designs. Some are even designer brand! You can also get yourself a pair of prescription lead glasses so you don't have to double down on your lenses or be forced into wearing contacts if you aren't comfortable or able to wear them.

There's so many ways to protect yourself and while these pieces of safety equipment aren't the most fashionable or fabulous, they're important to wear. There are plenty of options to choose from to find something you'll be confident wearing. I'm personally a big fan of pink and have made sure to pick out a cute set of pink lead glasses and a pink thyroid shield. I'm also a little notorious for grabbing the lead apron with pink skulls on it whenever I need to step in on a fluoro case. After all, I was raised to be a fashionista no matter where I go. 😉