Patient Shielding in CHI

This change of practice is based on years of research and technological improvements which means the levels of radiation used with modern imaging technology are significantly less than what they were when the practice of shielding was introduced.

Research also shows that parts of the body usually shielded - like the testicles and ovaries - are much less sensitive to radiation than we thought in the past, thus there is no benefit from placing shields on your child.

Studies have also shown that some shields can cover parts of your child’s body that are important for the doctor to see which could cause the exam to be repeated. Removing these shields will result in a more positive patient experience as it will avoid potential discomfort experienced by the patient and the manual handling issues for the staff, as well as avoiding a potential infection control hazard.

Your child’s doctor wants an X-ray so that they can better see what is going on inside your child’s body. This exposes your child to a little bit of radiation. Your doctor has thought about the benefits and risks to your child and decided that the benefit from having the information from the image is much higher than the risk from the radiation, which is very small.

It is CHI policy that only the patient is exposed to the radiation as requested by their doctor. All other persons present in an X-ray / CT / Fluoroscopy room must either wear a lead apron or stand behind a lead screen.