The cath lab should be a workplace where clinicians can build a full career without sacrificing their health and where the next generation sees a future worth choosing
J. Dawn Abbott
The ALARA+ resources build on the Summit on Radiation and Orthopedic Risks in Fluoroscopic Laboratories and a 2026 a multisociety expert consensus statement. They call on healthcare institutions, manufacturers, regulators, and professional societies to share responsibility for occupational safety in fluoroscopy laboratories; adopt ERPDs; modernize federal and state radiation safety regulations; measure and report radiation safety performance; design safer fluoroscopy laboratories; and expand education, training, and research.
“The cath lab should be a workplace where clinicians can build a full career without sacrificing their health and where the next generation sees a future worth choosing,” said SCAI President J. Dawn Abbott, MD, MSCAI. “Trainees are watching mentors leave the field with injuries and illness, and too many are choosing other specialties as a result. If we want a strong pipeline of interventional cardiologists to meet growing patient demand, we have to fix the work environment itself. These resources from the ALARA+ Coalition give every institution the tools to do exactly that.”
According to a 2023 SCAI Survey on Occupational Health Hazards in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, nearly 60% of respondents reported orthopedic injuries attributable to protective lead, and roughly one in five reported reducing their caseload or taking medical leave due to injury or radiation concerns. Among women respondents, 28% reported being discouraged from working in the cath lab because of pregnancy or considering pregnancy—a barrier that deters women from entering fluoroscopy-based specialties at all and deepens shortages in a workforce already too thin to meet growing demand for lifesaving procedures.
The toolkits are endorsed by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI), American College of Cardiology (ACC), Alliance for Cardiovascular Professionals (ACVP), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS), Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology (SVIN), and the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS).
Source: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions
