Radiation safety is an important focus for advocacy in the MRT professions. The CAMRT works within and supports several efforts that advance radiation safety and protection in Canada and abroad.
Bonn Call for Action
The Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) supports the Bonn Call for Action published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and co-sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The aims of the Bonn Call for Action are to:
- Strengthen the radiation protection of patients and health workers overall
- Attain the highest benefit with the least possible risk to all patients by the safe and appropriate use of ionizing radiation in medicine
- Aid the full integration of radiation protection into health care systems
- Help improve the benefit/risk dialogue with patients and the public
- Enhance the safety and quality of radiological procedures in medicine
Full text of the Bonn Call for Action
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held the “International Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine: Setting the Scene for the Next Decade” in Bonn, Germany, in December 2012, with the specific purpose of identifying and addressing issues arising in radiation protection in medicine. The conference was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), hosted by the Government of Germany through the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and attended by 536 participants and observers from 77 countries and 16 organizations.
Canada Safe Imaging
Medical imaging technologies and techniques continue to evolve rapidly and while providing unprecedented visibility into the body, their use mean exposure of patients to ionizing radiation. This is an area requiring attention in Canada.
Canada Safe Imaging (CSI) was formed in 2015 to address the need for a national strategy and action plan in Canada, to strengthen medical radiation protection in patients and foster a culture of radiation safety in healthcare in Canada.
CSI represents a collaborative undertaking between government agencies, professional associations, universities, colleges, national research institutions and hospitals. Within each sector, a multi-disciplinary approach has also been adopted, involving partners, researchers, technologists, medical and health physicists and other health care providers using or prescribing the use of radiation.
Canada Safety Imaging is part of a network of radiation safety campaigns worldwide under the auspices of the International Society of Radiology.
The Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) is one of a number of like-minded organizations contributing to Canada Safe Imaging.
For more information on see Canada Safe Imaging.
Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR)
The Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR) has a focus on on quality improvement, systems performance and knowledge management. CPQR has several initiatives that relate to the safety of radiation therapy. CPQR website
Other relevant sites in Radiation Safety
EuroSafe Imaging: This initiative has its own call for action, devised to support the implementation of the Bonn Call for Action, issued in 2012 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).