Radiation lead apron thief beware!

Ever seen the staff running away for cover when there's an x-ray to be done? 

An X-ray doesn't take a couple of seconds, an angiogram on another hand, takes about 30 minutes, more or less. Add an angioplasty and stenting, it will take more than an hour or hours depending on how  many stents are needed, how many arteries need unblocking and how tortuous is the accessed artery to the heart. The amount of exposure to radiation per patient is massive, hence the protection against it.

Imagine the weight of the lead apron upon your shoulders.

I wonder whose are they?

In need of a pair of radiation protection leads the other night, i burst out laughing on seeing this! 

Seriously?

I must admit that what prevented me from working in the cardiac catheterisation lab was this heavy leads. With my back problem, i can't be wearing this everyday, week after week and so forth. The solution to this was to wear light ones, enough to give maximum protection from radiation. I was assured that they will be ordered, although I wasn't promised that i'd be given a specific one.

Easy enough solution?

Obviously, the reason somebody had to put chains on it so no one will wear it. 😂😂😂

How many kg does a pair weigh?

In all those years of working with the cath lab staff, there's probably about 2-3 staff that I have seen wearing the light ones. And believe me, they have back problems. 

A lead-free apron weighs from 7.2 to 8 lbs, while the proper lead ones are from 8.8 to 11 lbs. Weight depends on the sizes too.

Personally, it's something I can do without, but it's part of the job once in a while.

Bring on the locks!

Images are mine, taken with my Samsung S7.