Image Gently Honored by 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll

June 26, 2009 – The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging has been named to the 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll in recognition of its Image Gently campaign.

The award, sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives, recognizes the ways nonprofit associations improve the quality of life in America. It honors innovative programs in education, skills training, standard setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation, citizenship and community service.

The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging is a coalition of 41 organizations dedicated to raising awareness and promoting education about radiation protection for children when undergoing medical imaging examinations. The Alliance was founded by the Society for Pediatric Radiology, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American College of Radiology and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. The Alliance launched the Image Gently campaign in January 2008 to educate radiologic technologists, medical physicists, radiologists, pediatricians and parents about radiation dose used during computed tomography (CT) examinations performed on children.

“The Alliance is honored to receive this award from the association community,” said Marilyn Goske, M.D., chair of the Alliance and Silverman Chair for Radiology Education at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “It confirms that the public recognizes how important it is to ‘child-size’ the radiation dose delivered during pediatric medical imaging examinations.”

The Image Gently Web site, www.imagegently.org , includes practical protocols that can be used to optimize pediatric technique used during CT imaging of children based on their weight. The campaign emphasizes the need to differentiate these methods for children compared to adults. More than 2,789 providers have taken the pledge on the Web site to “image gently” when performing pediatric imaging exams.

The Web site also provides information for parents , including an imaging record card that parents can use to record where, when and what types of medical imaging studies are performed on their children. Many of the materials on the Web site have been translated into Chinese, German, Korean, Spanish, Thai and Turkish, with translations into additional languages coming soon.

“Our goal is to ensure that all children receive safe, quality care when they undergo medical imaging examinations,” explained Dr. Goske.

Although the Image Gently campaign has focused so far on CT, Dr. Goske noted that it will expand later this summer to include information on pediatric interventional radiology procedures, with information on other radiology examinations to follow.

Only eight programs were selected for the 2009 Associations Advance America Honor Roll. “Your program serves as a great example of the vital role associations play in improving the quality of life in communities across the country,” said John H. Graham IV, president and chief executive officer of the American Society of Association Executives. “Activities such as yours truly make America a better place in which to live.”

For more information: www.acr.org and www.imagegently.org