Before making an exposure with a mobile X-ray unit, which condition must be met?

• A. All individuals who must remain in the room are well away from the primary X-ray beam and the patient.
• B. All individuals must wear protective aprons.
• C. All individuals must wear a personnel monitoring device.
• D. Gonad shields must be worn on all patients who have not passed reproductive age.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is protecting anyone in the room by controlling exposure through distance. Before a mobile X-ray exposure, only those who must be present should stay in the room, and they should be kept well away from the primary X-ray beam and the patient. Increasing distance reduces dose effectively (scatter and exposure drop off with distance), which is the simplest and most reliable way to keep exposure low. If someone must be in the room, they should be behind shielding or positioned so they are not in the beam’s path.

The other options don’t meet the immediate safety requirement. Wearing protective aprons for everyone is valuable but does not replace the need to limit who is in the room and how close they are to the beam. Wearing a personnel monitoring device is important for staff exposure tracking, but it is not a pre-exposure condition that must be met to perform the exam. Gonad shielding for all patients not past reproductive age is not universally indicated for every exam and can interfere with image quality or be unnecessary in some procedures.