ties within the Cone Health system to educate other
surgical teams about the hazards of surgical smoke,
and the importance of evacuating it. While many
facilities working to implement smoke evacuation
have received some pushback from surgeons, this
has largely not been the case at Cone Health. "That's
because of the culture we have with the physicians,"
says Ms. Hatchett. "We're comfortable talking to
them and having those crucial conversations."
In fact, one of the program's biggest critics
turned out to become one of its biggest supporters.
An ENT surgeon who was tired of trialing new
products was hesitant about the program at first.
Ms. Turner had to essentially force him to read the
data she had collected that backed the benefits of
smoke evacuation. Now that ENT surgeon uses
smoke evacuators every time he operates.
Before getting started on implementing a smoke
evacuation program, Ms. Turner heard about efforts
to pass legislation in North Carolina that would
ensure smoke evacuators are used during plume-
producing cases. Though her state does not yet
have official regulations for smoke evacuation in
place, Mebane Surgery Center established a pro-
gram on its own terms — and Ms. Turner advises
other facilities to do the same. Referencing smoke
evacuation legislation passed in Rhode Island and
Colorado, she points out facilities probably don't
have a lot of time to put a program in place before
they're required to do so. "It's going to be managed
for you at some point, so get ahead of it," says Ms.
Turner. "Pick out the products you want. Make your
own path — don't wait for somebody to tell you
what to do."
Ms. Turner has expanded her smoke evacuation
program to facilities throughout the Cone Health
system, and her goal is to make smoke evacuation
the norm in every one of them. Her efforts prove
that change really can start with one person.
Now's the time to get started on setting your facili-
ty up for a smoke-free future.
OSM
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FILLED WITH FACTS A binder packed with irrefutable data helped convince staff and
surgeons to use smoke evacuators during plume-producing procedures.
MedCenter
Mebane
Surgery
Center