Paging radiation

We always thought that the obiquitous clunky cop pager was just a sign that law enforcement trails behind on the technology curve, but Wired News points out that often times that belt clip-on is actually a radiation pager,
which are being increasingly deployed after 9/11 to detect any high levels of radiation that could result from a dirty bomb. They're mostly being worn by border patrol agents, firefighters and various cops who would respond to a dirty bomb explosion. The pagers cost about $1,500 to $2,500 each and start vibrating when the wearer is thouroughly doused. About 1,000 were used by security at various New Year's festivites, as well as at the 2002 Super Bowl. It's a nice idea, but you've really gotta hope that you never have to find out how good this thing is at actually detecting radiation.