La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § XV-737 - Safety Precautions

A. For each patient or human research subject receiving radiopharmaceutical therapy and hospitalized for compliance with LAC 33:XV.725, a licensee shall do the following:

1. quarter the patient or human research subject either in:

a. a private room with a private sanitary facility; or

b. a room, with a private sanitary facility, with another individual who also has received therapy with unsealed radioactive material and who also cannot be released under LAC 33:XV.725;

2. post the patient's or human research subject's door with a "Caution: Radioactive Material" sign and note on the door or on the patient's or human research subject's chart where and how long visitors may stay in the patient's or human research subject's room;

3. authorize visits by individuals under 18 years of age only on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the authorized user after consultation with the radiation safety officer;

4. promptly after administration of the dosage, measure the dose rates in contiguous restricted and unrestricted areas with a radiation measurement survey instrument to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of LAC 33:XV.415 of these regulations and retain for two years a record of each survey that includes the time and date of the survey, a plan of the area or list of points surveyed, the measured dose rate at several points expressed in milliroentgens per hour, the instrument used to make the survey, and the initials of the individual who made the survey;

5. either monitor material and items removed from the patient's or human research subject's room to determine that any contamination cannot be distinguished from the natural background radiation level with a radiation detection survey instrument set on its most sensitive scale and with no interposed shielding, or handle these materials and items as radioactive waste;

6. survey the patient's or human research subject's room and private sanitary facility for removable contamination with a radiation detection survey instrument before assigning another patient or human research subject to the room. The room shall not be reassigned until removable contamination is less than 200 disintegrations per minute (3.33 Bq) per 100 square centimeters; and

7. submit to the Office of Environmental Compliance an acceptable procedure to measure the thyroid burden of each individual who helps prepare or administer a dosage of iodine-131. Measurements shall be performed within three days after administering the dosage, and records shall include each thyroid burden measurement, date of measurement, the name of the individual whose thyroid burden was measured, and the initials of the individual who made the measurements. The records shall be retained for the period required by LAC 33:XV.472.B.

B. A licensee shall notify the radiation safety officer, or his or her designee, and an authorized user immediately if the patient or human research subject dies or has a medical emergency.

Notes

La. Admin. Code tit. 33, § XV-737

Promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Air Quality and Radiation Protection, Radiation Protection Division, LR 18:34 (January 1992), amended LR 24:2105 (November 1998), amended by the Office of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Planning Division, LR 26:2589 (November 2000), LR 30:1178 (June 2004), amended by the Office of the Secretary, Legal Affairs Division, LR 31:2533 (October 2005), LR 32:813 (May 2006), LR 33:2185 (October 2007).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2001 et seq.