Radioactive patients risk setting off airport alarms.

[NNadir]

"LONDON (AFP) - Millions of people who undergo routine health scans with radioisotopes are unwittingly going radioactive and risk triggering security scares at airports, scientists have warned.

Patients may remain radioactive for up to 30 days after being scanned or treated with radioisotopes, said a case report in the British medical journal The Lancet.

'As a result, patients are at risk of setting off radiation alarms at airports,' said Richard Underwood of London's Brompton Hospital.

In one case in March last year, a 55-year-old commercial pilot had a thallium scan to check his heart and two days later travelled to Moscow as a crew member."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050722/hl_afp/sciencehealthaviation_050722082301

[dcfirefighter]

1. And, ironically, hospital alarms as well

Not long ago I responded to a patient who was setting off a local ED's radiological monitor. We (the HazMat Co.) came and identified the isotope, which was a medical isotope, which allowed us to identify the nature of the 'contamination'. The patient in question was a member of the housekeeping staff, and, after setting off the alarm, thought she had been contaminated cleaning something. Turns out she had had some sort of radiation therapy. English proficiency was a barrier in determining this from the outset.

There was no panic or evacuation associated with this (the patient had been isolated), as the radiation levels were not sufficient to justify it.

Likewise, such patients often set off the portable, pager-sized detectors worn by some firefighters and police officers, especially when standing in line with people for something, like a Starbucks coffee.