SAC Rads Room

Purpose/ Applicability: The Purpose of this SOP is to establish the purpose and use of this imaging room during normal imaging business hours and after hours.

Scope:
It is the responsibility of all individuals that remain in the room during the exposure to wear the appropriate radiation protection. All individuals holding the patient must wear a lead apron, thyroid shield, and lead gloves. All individuals that remain in the room during the exposure must wear a lead apron and thyroid shield. All attempts must be made to distance yourself from the radiation beam whenever possible. 

The SAC rads room will be primarily used for after-hours radiographs. These radiographs will be performed by the service that is ordering the radiographs. If the service performing the exam has questions, they may call the on-call CT or MRI tech to have them talk through any issues.

The CT and MRI techs are not on-call to perform radiographs. The imaging on call schedule is located on the bulletin board in the SAC rads room. The on call schedule lists all imaging staff’s contact information.

The SAC rads room will be used during normal imaging business hours for post op radiographs, unstable emergency room or intensive care unit patients, tube checks, or any patient under general anesthesia.

The radiographs performed during normal imaging business hours will be performed by the imaging technicians.

Definition(s):

• HIS - Health Information System 
• Radiation Protection- Lead aprons, lead gloves, lead thyroid shield, and mobile lead shielding 
• Normal Imaging Business Hours- Monday-Friday 0900-1700, not including university holidays.

Equipment:
• The room has a Summit Xray Table and an AGFA 17inch x 14inch digital detector.
• The room is stocked with tape, positioning troughs, cotton, foam, and sand socks to assist with proper positioning of patients.
• There is also a magnification marker to be used for orthopedic cases.
• There is a binder in the room with information regarding the imaging software, routine positions for each study, and valuable tips on how to operate the equipment
• There are R and L lead markers to mark the laterality of the patient correctly.

Procedure:

1. The ordering service will place the imaging requisition in Vetstar.
   a. If during normal imaging business hours, the ordering service should communicate with the imaging service when the patient will be ready for their radiographs. 
   b. For post-op exams, please notify us approximately 20 minutes before the patient will be ready for their radiographs. 
   c. If after-hours, the ordering service will take the patient to the imaging room and perform the radiographs. If the service performing the exam has questions, they may call the on-call CT or MRI tech to have them talk through any issues. The CT and MRI techs are not on call to perform radiographs.The imaging on call schedule is located on the bulletin board in the SAC rads room. The on-call schedule lists all imaging staff’s contact information.
2. The radiographs will be taken and sent to PACS.
3. The imaging exam will be charged in Vetstar/ SANDI. If priority or STAT reports are requested, charge for that as well. Imaging or ER techs have the capability of doing it themselves. If the patient will still be in-house during the next normal imaging business hours, leave documentation of what exam was performed in the wall basket in the room and imaging will charge the exam when we get in. If a patient is being discharged before the next normal imaging business hours, other services can call the on-call imaging tech to charge off the exam. When charging the exam in Vetstar, the initials need to be changed to U01 (For Dr. Billhymer), or VCT (for studies that are sent to VetCT), or if you are using SANDI,select the appropriate radiologist/ teleradiologist from the drop-down menu
4. If you are using Vetstar, the colors need to be changed in the RIS screen accordingly to which in house radiologist was assigned the imaging exam. On the RIS tech screen, highlight the imaging exam, select review. Select the dropdown arrow to the right of priority and select from the following options 

   Description in VetStar	What the Description Means	Color on the RIS tech screen after finalizing selection
   Standard-AB	Standard read for Dr. Billhymer	Royal Blue
   ASAP-AB	Priority read for Dr. Billhymer	Purple
   STAT-AB	STAT read for Dr. Billhymer	Pink

5. If after-hours and a priority or STAT report is needed on a study, it needs to be sent to VetCT to be read. The necessary information needs to be completed on the VetCT website. (you will need an account to be able to enter the necessary information) Please see the information binder in the SAC rads room for step by step instruction.