Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Folsom Receives Plaque Denver Hospital Presents Award to RCA President for His Service to Humanitarian Causes. AS a tribute to his years of serv- j ice to humanitarian causes, Frank M. Folsom, President, Radio Corporation of America, was award- ed a bronze phique at a testimonial dinner in Philadelphia, held in his honor by the Jewish Hospital of Denver on November 20. More than 800 leading industrialists, civic and social leaders witnessed the presen- tation. In presenting the award, John B. Kelly, chairman of the dinner, pointed out that Mr. Folsom "typi- fies the men of broad vision, pa- tience, understanding and charity, who have made democracy work." He told the guests that they are "providing the means to carry on the fight against tuberculosis — a fight which has been so well ad- vanced by the National Jewish Hos- pital at Denver." In his reply, Mr. Folsom called attention to the hospital as a "great humanitarian institution," adding that "in accepting this award, I am accepting your tribute to the Hos- pital. "I recognize that in gathering here tonight, Philadelphians are opening their hearts to what this hospital is and has been doing for half a century. "This great institution opened its doors 50 years ago for a single pur- pose—to cure and rehabilitate the needy victims of the disease that once brought such hopeless, helpless despair—tuberculosis. "How well it has fulfilled its ob- jective is attested to not only by its international renown as a center for the treatment and rehabilitation of tuberculosis victims and for re- search and education in the field, but even more important by the thousands of wasting bodies and potentially broken lives that have been saved and restored to useful- ness." Mr. Folsom saluted the hospital on its 50 years of progress and pioneering in the treatment of tu- berculosis and predicted a centen- nial celebration "as meritoriously deserved." The plaque cited him for "his con- FRANK M. FOLSOM, (LEFT) RECEIVES PLAQUE FROM ALBERT M. GREE.VFIELD (CENTER) AND JOHN B. KELLY. TREAS- URER AND CHAIRMAN RESPECTIVELY OF THE PRESENTATION CEREMONY. cern for his fellow men of every station, race, color and creed, his devoted loyalty and eagerness to serve those in distress; and his mer- itorious service in providing free tuberculosis treatment to the needy of all faiths as trustee of the Na- tional Jewish Hospital at Denver." NEW INSTRUMENT SAFEGUARDS WORKERS IN RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS RDUTINE checking of personnel who work with radioactive substances in laboratories and man- ufacturing plants is simplified by the use of a new radiation counter developed by the RCA Engineering Products Department as part of the Atomic Energy Commission's pro- gram to safeguard those engaged in atomic work. The instrument, called a Hand and Foot Monitor, measures simul- taneously the extent of beta and gamma contamination on hands and feet of those engaged in handling radioactive material, while compen- sating automatically for back- ground radiation. The Hand and Foot Monitor con- sists of a platform flanked by two posts and a control cabinet. The platform and posts are designed to be installed in any corridor or pas- sageway travelled by workers leav- ing the radioactive area. The con- trol cabinet is installed in any out- of-the-way space that is free of contamination and excessive vibra- tion. On the platform are two clearly defined foot positions, and at a con- venient height and angle near the top of each post is a hand cavity. When a worker stands on the foot positions and inserts his hands in the cavities, indicator lights on the posts flash red, yellow or green to show whether he may safely leave the premises or must undergo fur- ther decontamination. A duplicate set of lights flashes on the monitor control cabinet for the benefit of the operator. Circuits controlling the indicator lights are actuated by the degree of radiation picked up by Geiger-Mueller tubes installed on each side of the hand cavities and under the foot positions. The control cabinet houses all the electronic amplifying and counting circuits and the necessary power supplies. Front and rear doors give easy access to the equipment units, which are mounted on removable chasses. In the top cover is a clear plastic window to permit reading the positions of "step relays" which indicate the counts of both subject and background radiations. This unit permits monitoring by a trained operator. In order to operate the instru- ment, the subject merely steps onto the foot positions on the platform and presses his hands down on base plates in the cavities. These plates operate switches which start the tubes counting. It is necessary for both plates to be depressed before the machine will operate. After a 15- to 90-second counting cycle, the appropriate green, yellow, or red indicating lamps reveal the degree and location of contamination. [RADIO AGE 17]