Instruction & Information Manual for RADTriage^TM, a Dual-Sensor SMART Dosimeter

OBJECTIVE OF DUAL-SENSOR RADTriage: The dual-sensor RADTriage^TM personal dosimeter provides wearers, medical personnel and law enforcement personnel timely personal radiation exposure information in the event of a terrorist radiological incident or industrial accident. RADTriage^TM, part of the SIRAD^TM (Self-Indicating Radiation Alert Dosimeter) family of SMART dosimeters, is uniquely designed to prevent erroneous readings. If during or after the incident, the color of sensors has not changed, the wearer has not received radiation exposure large enough to cause acute medical effects and therefore has peace of mind. If the WARNING SENSOR (right hand side rectangle strip between the blue color bars) turns light blue in color, a low radiation exposure is indicated. In this case, further exposure should be avoided. If the WARNING SENSOR has developed a darker blue color and the CASUALTY SENSOR (left hand side rectangle strip between the purple color bars) has developed a light purple color, e.g., above 25 or 50 rads, the user should seek a medical evaluation. The exposure indicated on the RADTriage can be used by medical personnel to prioritize and guide treatment. RADTriage is one of our SIRAD^TM (Self-indicating Instant Radiation Alert Dosimeter) personal and area dosimeters.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Write your name and date received on the back of the badge and note the expiration date printed in the front of the card. Do not exchange or let others use your RADTriage personal dosimeter. 2. Carry RADTriage in your wallet, purse or pocket. You may also hang it from your neck or belt as you would carry an ID badge. 3. RADTriage is a warning and casualty radiation dosimeter. It supplements, but does not replace, other dosimeters or detectors that an occupational worker may require to use. RADTriage may be the only dosimeter worn by people who do not routinely work with radioactive materials & radiation sources. 4. Keep the black protective cover in place at all times except when reading the dosimeter. This will protect the radiation sensors from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from sunlight or fluorescent lights. 5. Do not deliberately expose RADTriage to ionizing radiation. Protect RADTriage from high temperatures (above 140^oF/60^oC) and UV/sunlight. This ensures the maximum usable life of the sensors. 6. When issued, (a) the color of the sensors MUST closely match with the zero bars of the color reference charts and (b) the central dot of the FIT indicator (located on the bottom right hand corner of the card) should be blue while the surrounding area should be white/colorless or very faint blue. Return the dosimeter to the issuing authority/organization or JP Labs for a replacement if they are not so or RADTriage is damaged or defective.

INTRODUCTION: RADTriage^TM (patents pending) is a user-friendly, disposable, warning (0-50 rads) and casualty (0-1,000 rads) personal radiation dosimeter for monitoring exposure to ionizing radiations. It is always active and ready to use. It is a smart dosimeter, it has capability of monitoring shelf life, false positives/negatives and tampering. When exposed to radiation, e.g., from a "dirty bomb", nuclear detonation or another radiation source, the sensors of RADTriage develop color instantly. The color changes are permanent, cumulative and proportional to dose thereby providing the wearer and medical personnel instantaneous, easy to read information on radiation exposure of the victim to assess the health risks and guide treatment. The WARNING SENSOR formulation was field tested for two years.

TYPES OF RADIATION: The RADTriage sensors respond to gamma/X-ray (energy higher than 30 KeV) and high energy (e.g., above 1 MeV) electrons/beta particles. Color development of the sensors is essentially independent of dose rate. RADTriage will not be affected by normal exposures to diagnostic X-ray (e.g., chest or dental) or security X-ray machines. Multiple (more than five) exposures to medical or airport luggage CAT scans will result in sufficient exposure to produce a detectable color change (and a false positive) in the WARNING SENSOR.

HOW TO READ DOSE WITH RADTriage: Lift the protective black cover and estimate the exposure dose by comparing the color of the sensors with the color reference bars printed on both sides of the sensors. Find bars which closely match the color of the sensors and read the dose in rads printed adjacent to those bars. If either sensor develops a color in-between any two adjacent bars, this indicates an in-between dose. For a tissue equivalent dosimeter such as RADTriage, 1 rad = 1 rem = 10 mSv. RADTriage can be viewed in any light. However, we recommend reading the dose under fluorescent lights and at room temperature (RT, 25^oC) for an accurate reading. Color matching under other lights and temperatures may not be as accurate. Dose can be estimated with an uncertainty of less than 20% with a color-matching reference chart. Where additional accuracy is needed, a spectrophotometer or an optical densitometer can be used to determine the dose to within 10%.

EFFECTS OF HEAT AND UV LIGHT: The unprotected sensors of RADTriage will develop colors faster if exposed to temperatures above RT or UV/sunlight for a prolonged period. Keep RADTriage at or below normal body temperature. Protect the dosimeter from UV/sunlight by keeping the black protective cover in place at all times except when reading the dosimeter. Repeated, e.g., hundreds, of readings where the sensor gets exposed for less than a minute per reading (even under direct sunlight) will cause little or no color development in the sensors.

LAUNDRY CYCLE: A normal residential laundry cycle of washing and drying (below 175^oF/80^oC) has a negligible effect on RADTriage. However, repeated laundry cycles or exposure to temperatures higher than 80^oC will damage the sensors and hence must be avoided. Replace RADTriage if it is subjected to boiling water or more than one laundry cycle.

FALSE POSITIVE & TAMPER INDICATORS: If used as per instructions, RADTriage will not provide false positives or negatives. False signals can create unnecessary problems for users and issuing organizations. Your RADTriage is a SMART personal dosimeter, equipped with a simple-to-use revolutionary indicator for monitoring the deliberate or inadvertent exposure to high temperatures or ultraviolet light. We call it FIT^TM (acronym for False-positive, Inactivation and Tamper) indicator and it is located on the bottom right hand corner of your RADTriage. FIT^TM simultaneously monitors false positives & negatives, overexposure to heat & UV/ sunlight, and shelf–life and fixing or inactivation.

Inactivation & False Negative Indicator: If the central dot of the FIT indicator has changed from blue to red, your RADTriage has been heated above 90^oC which has made the WARNING SENSOR inactive to radiation. DO NOT USE the dosimeter if the FIT dot is, or has become, red. Turn the dosimeter in to the issuing organization with a description of the circumstances. Heat treatment can be used by medical authorities to permanently document the radiation exposure as part of a medical record. Medical personnel requiring this capability should contact JP Laboratories at the phone number or e-mail address at the top of the other side of this page. 

False Positive Indicator: The shelf life (expiration date) of the dosimeter is based on storage of RADTriage at RT (below 77^oF/25^oC) and continuous protection from ultraviolet/sunlight exposures. Shelf life will be reduced if RADTriage is stored at higher temperatures (higher than 77^oF/25^oC) and/or exposed to UV/sunlight for a prolonged period (e.g., more than a few hours of direct sunlight). The area surrounding the central blue dot should be nearly white or faint blue when issued/purchased. If it has developed a blue color darker than its color reference bar on its right, the shelf-life of the RADTriage has expired, it was overexposed to UV light, and/or exposed to higher temperatures for a prolonged period. The sensitivity of the FIT indicator to X-ray is hundreds of times lower than that of the WARNING SENSOR. It will also develop a very faint blue color at 500 rads.

UV/TAMPER DETECTORS: DO NOT SCRATCH OFF THE UV TAMPER DETECTORS (black bars over the top of the sensors). The black scratch-off bars are almost opaque to UV light but transparent to X-rays and gamma-rays. If the color development of the sensors is due to exposure to high energy ionizing radiation, the whole sensor will be uniformly colored. If the color development of the sensors is due to exposure to UV light, the color under the scratch-off bar will be significantly lighter. If you suspect exposure to high energy ionizing radiation, authorized personnel should only scratch-off a small portion (e.g., 1/3) of the bars. Keep the remaining portion of the bars unscratched for future testing. There is also an inaccessible small black bar under each of the scratch-off black bars as well as other internal false positive and tamper indicators in your RADTriage.

REPORTING EXPOSURE: If the sensors of RADTriage develop darker color and the color development is not due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures and/or UV/sunlight (false positives), estimate the dose and immediately report it to the department/agency/organization issuing the dosimeter. Seek medical help immediately from your agency/company medical office, your personal health care provider or county public health office, especially if the dose is higher than 25 rads. For a dose higher than 100 rads, report to the nearest Emergency Room. The acute effects/symptoms of a high dose of ionizing radiation are provided at www.outreach.pdf.2edmmrchandbook.pdf .

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Only limited information can be provided on this one page manual. For additional useful information, visit our website, www.jplabs.com/html/sirad.HTM or purchase a copy from JP Labs.

LIMITED LIABILITY: Reasonable efforts have been made to make this product free from defects. It is expected to perform as specified if used as recommended and instructions are followed. In the event that the product does not perform as specified, JP Labs will replace the product. JP Labs specifically disclaims all other warranties and liabilities expressed or implied. All warranties are null and void if any of the following occur: (1) the UV tamper detector (black scratch-off bars on the sensors) are scratched off (2) the central dot of FIT indicator is red and/or area surrounding the dot is darker than that of its color reference bar and (3) RADTriage is tampered with in any way.