How should a runaway exposure incident be managed?

• A. Ignore and continue scanning.
• B. Increase exposure to verify fault.
• C. Immediately stop exposure, remove the patient from the beam if safe, notify a supervisor, document the event, evaluate personnel dose, and perform equipment checks before reuse.
• D. Replace the operator.

Answer: (C)

When a runaway exposure happens, the highest priority is containment and initiating safety procedures to stop further dose. The best approach is to immediately stop the exposure, move the patient away from the beam if it can be done safely, notify a supervisor, document the event, evaluate personnel dose, and perform equipment checks before reuse. Stopping the beam cuts off the source of radiation right away, which minimizes additional dose to both the patient and staff. Removing the patient from the beam area, if feasible, reduces any ongoing exposure already in progress. Telling a supervisor ensures that the incident is escalated to the proper safety and QA channels and helps coordinate a formal response, including any regulatory or institutional reporting. Documenting the event creates a record for dose tracking, investigation, and future prevention. Checking personnel dose ensures that staff exposure stayed within limits and identifies anyone who may have received unexpected dose. Finally, inspecting the equipment after such an incident helps confirm there isn’t a persistent fault (like a timer or AEC issue) that could cause a repeat runaway exposure, and it validates the system is safe before it’s used again.

Choosing to ignore the incident, to increase exposure to verify the fault, or to replace the operator does not address the actual safety problem and would likely result in unnecessary, avoidable additional dose or unresolved equipment faults.