ASRT Foundation and Toshiba Announce Safety FiRsT Grant Recipients

Staff
Sep. 22, 2016

Safety First LogoHartford Hospital and Boca Raton Regional Hospital will both receive Safety FiRsT ™ grants to improve radiologic technologist safety in their radiology departments. Launched in 2015 by the ASRT Foundation and Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc., Safety FiRsT™ awards two ASRT members a grant of up to $7,000 each to implement a safety initiative that will elevate technologist safety in the workplace.

“Safety goes beyond lowering radiation dose and is an encompassing concept that includes the entire imaging process,” said Cathy Wolfe, senior director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Intelligence at Toshiba. “We developed this new grant opportunity with the ASRT Foundation to help technologists and their institutions establish programs that meet the goals of the Triple Aim by improving individual and population-wide care, furthering Toshiba’s commitment to focus on putting its customers first by providing 360 degrees of coverage, guidance and expertise.”

This year’s recipients are:
  • Christine Bak, who applied on behalf of Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. The grant will be used to install an overhead lift in order to decrease the risk of neck and back injuries to R.T.s who are assisting patients to rise from a prone or supine position, and reduce the number of slides and lifts required for patient transfers with a goal of no back or neck injuries resulting in time lost.
  • Jennifer Maquez, who applied on behalf of Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida. The grant will be used to purchase items such as metal detecting wands, pivot discs, magnetic resonance imaging walkers and magnetic resonance imaging safe wheelchair transfer boards to reduce the risk of technologist injuries, possible missile effect accidents and the chance of burns.

“This year’s recipients have different needs, but they have the same commitment to keeping their radiologic technologists safe,” said ASRT Foundation Executive Vice President Liana Watson, D.M., R.T.(R)(M)(S)(BS), RDMS, RVT, FASRT, CAE. “Providing high-quality patient care safely is something that all medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals are passionate about, and we are excited to be a part of improving technologist safety at these two facilities.”

Learn more about this grant opportunity, including previous recipients, on the Safety FiRsT™ page.