In this document, the X-rays and Health Project (XaHP) offers links and addresses to six professional societies whose leaders and members have either the authority or expertise to reduce x-ray dose per x-ray imaging procedure.

Short messages of encouragement from non-members can intensify professional attention to dose-reduction, as indicated in XaHP document #110, "Breast Cancer."

When you contact the leaders of these societies, you could express your confidence that they have the skills to achieve a better benefit-risk ratio for patients by reducing x-ray doses, and for support, you could refer them to the very brief XaHP document #111, "Who Says?"

The societies fall into three categories: (1) Radiologists, (2) Radiologic Technologists, (3) Health Physicists. In addition, we have listed a route of easy access to the radiation divisions of Health Departments in every state.

 

The Radiologists

Radiologists are physicians specially trained to interpret the medical meaning of x-ray images. Often, they do not make such images themselves. However, they carry the ultimate responsibility for the x-ray dose-levels received by their patients.

Although cardiologists, neurologists, urologists, gastro-enterologists, orthopedists, chiropractors, dentists, and other health specialists use x-ray imaging equipment, radiologists have the prestige and expertise to set the standard of practice. If they give high priority to reducing x-ray dose per imaging procedure, the other specialties will too. The three main professional societies in radiology are:

The American College of Radiology (ACR)
Board of Chancellors
1891 Preston White Drive, Reston VA 20191
Tel: 800-227-5463
E-mail: executive@acr.org
Website <www.acr.org>
Website <www.radiologyinfo.org> "designed with the layperson in mind"

The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS)
(Roentgen ray is the original name for x-ray.)
President
4421 Slatestone Court, Leesburg VA 20176-5109
Tel: 800-438-2777
E-mail: arrsinfo@arrs.org
Website <www.arrs.org>
Journal: American Journal of Roentgenology <www.ajronline.org>

The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Chairman of the Board
820 Jorie Blvd., Oak Brook IL 60523-2251
Tel: 630-571-2670. Journal: Radiology
E-mail: fellers@rsna.org (David Fellers, Exec. Dir.)
Websites <www.rsna.org> & <www.radiologyinfo.org>

 

The Radiologic Technologists ("R.T.s")

Registered radiologic technologists are the specially trained health professionals who usually (not always) operate x-ray imaging equipment. As operators, they make choices which affect the dose-levels received by patients. As educators, they try to answer the patient's questions. Their main professional society is:

American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)
Board of Directors
15000 Central Avenue, SE, Albuquerque NM 87123
Tel: 505-298-5063
E-mail: asrtbod@asrt.org      ("bod" = Board of Directors)
Website <www.asrt.org>
Journal: ASRT Scanner (a newsmagazine)
Journal: Radiologic Technology

 

The Health Physicists

Health physicists have special training in the measurement or estimation of doses from ionizing radiation (including x-rays). Every hospital using radioactive isotopes in nuclear medicine has health physicists ("radiation safety officers"), and their skills are also focused in hospitals on protecting staff and patients from the very high radiation doses used in cancer treatment -- where single doses may be about 100 times higher than the x-ray dose from a single CT scan. "Health physics" and "medical physics" overlap with respect to ionizing radiation, but medical physics embraces additional aspects of physics in medicine.

Health Physics Society (HPS)
President
1313 Dolley Madison Blvd., Ste 402, McLean VA 22101
Tel: 703-790-1745. Journal: Health Physics
E-mail: hps@BurkInc.com
Website <www.hps.org> includes specific E-mail addresses.

American Assn. of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)
President
One Physics Ellipse, College Park MD 20740
Tel: 301-209-3350. Journal: Medical Physics
E-mail: aapm@aapm.org
Website <www.aapm.org>

Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors
Its membership consists primarily of state and local employes who have radiation regulatory responsibilities. The CRCPD's "primary goal is to make sure that radiation exposure to individuals is kept to the lowest practical level, while not restricting its beneficial uses." Address:
205 Capital Avenue, Frankfort KY 40601
Tel: 502-227-4543
E-mail: staff@crcpd.org
Website <www.crcpd.org> includes links, state by state, to radiation officials in health departments.

 

Assembled by the X-rays and Health Project (XaHP),
Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, Inc.