Thread by @MrYearof

Welcome to MRI Safety Week!

All this week we're highlighting various 'why' elements of MRI Safety Week and the Year of MRI Safety.

Today's 🧵: What this week / year are about

#MRIsafety #MRIsafetyweek

MRI has been labeled as 'the safe modality' by virtue of the fact that it doesn't expose patients to ionizing (potentially cancer-causing) types of radiation that are inherent in X-rays. But this overly-simplistic naming fails to consider that MRI may have it's own risks.

This week, the week that includes the July 27th anniversary of perhaps the most infamous MRI fatality (sadly we now have to qualify it as 'perhaps' as there have been more fatal MRI incidents), is MRI Safety Week.

In 2001 a young boy who had just undergone successful brain surgery was to get an MRI before being discharged from the hospital died when a steel oxygen tank was brought into the room where he was about to get a scan.

The 'Year of MRI Safety' is the 20th anniversary of the year of the tragic 2001 accident, in which we dedicate the full year to evaluating the degree to which we have (or haven't) improved MRI safety in the past two decades.

So this week should be a week of MRI safety emphasis, inside a year of MRI safety emphasis. If you're looking for activities, resources, or guidance, look back at our posts from all of last week for individual 'to do' items in the spirit of MRI Safety Week.

Please 'like' and 'RT' our tweets, generously, to help your Twitter-circle see our #MRIsafety info.

And if you'd like daily bits of MRI Safety best practice in your feed, we invite you to follow us.