How often should the facility conduct radiation protection drills, and what topics should they cover?

• A. At least annually; drills should cover spill containment, decontamination, evacuation, alarm verification, incident reporting, and post-incident review.
• B. Every five years; topics: only paperwork.
• C. Monthly; topics: patient care only.
• D. Never; topics: none.

Answer: (A)

Regular radiation protection drills are essential to keep staff prepared for emergencies and to ensure procedures stay current. Conducting them at least annually tests the team’s ability to respond and reinforces the steps everyone should take during a radiological incident. A well-rounded drill should cover spill containment and decontamination to prevent spread and reduce exposure, evacuation to move people to safety, alarm verification to ensure alarms function and reach the right responders, incident reporting to document what happened and coordinate the response, and a post-incident review to identify improvements and apply lessons learned. If drills are done less often or focus only on paperwork or routine patient care, critical emergency actions aren’t practiced, creating gaps in preparedness. The annual schedule with these topics balances realism, training efficiency, and continuous improvement.