Finally, it is time for the staff to exit the room. This should be done in an orderly process with a radiation technologist inside the room and another outside. The staff should remove their gowns and aprons first. Care should be taken in their disposal. The tendency to toss used gowns into the trash from across the room should be avoided. Masks and caps should then be removed followed by gloves. The staff then has their hands surveyed. Once the hands are determined to be free of contamination, they can support themselves by holding onto the doorway while still standing inside the room. One foot is lifted and the protective shoe covering is removed by the radiation technologist inside the room. Once it is removed, the staff person extends their leg into the buffer zone, but not touching the ground. The foot is surveyed and when determined clean, allowed to rest within the buffer zone on a step off pad.
The procedure is then repeated using the other foot. Should a shoe be found to be contaminated, it can be removed and cleaned later so that staff exit is not impeded. Once the person is standing inside the buffer zone, a full body check for contamination is performed by the radiation technologist outside the REA. This procedure is repeated for all staff in the room. The radiation technologist then guides cleanup efforts inside the room. Contaminated materials are placed within waterproof containers and clearly labeled. Once the room is completely surveyed and found to be free of contamination, the room may be restocked and used for other patients. It should be noted that cleanup may take several hours depending on the extent of contamination found.