Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/771117
only part of the solution. Exposure to surgical smoke remains a daily occurrence for the men and women who make their living in the OR. To put the number into perspective, more than 500,000 healthcare workers are exposed to surgical smoke every year, according to an OSHA esti- mate. Depending on the source, a plume of surgical smoke could con- tain more than 150 toxic compounds (hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, benzene and toluene, among many others), viruses (includ- ing HPV) and viable cancer cells, as well as other potentially harmful agents, such as bio-aerosols, bacteria and blood fragments. Knowing is half the battle Despite the risks — and despite the fact that facilities have a legal responsibility to provide a safe environment for their employees — not every OR is equipped with a smoke evacuator. According to a recent Outpatient Surgery Magazine reader poll, more than one- fourth (27%) of 229 surgical facility leaders don't use a smoke evacua- tion device in every case that's appropriate. Some practitioners are either unaware of the hazards or simply dis- count the hazards. Other barriers to adoption include a practitioner's dislike for the noise smoke evacuators generate, the obtrusive nature of smoke-evacuation tubing and simply not having enough smoke evacuators to accommodate all ORs. Once you understand the potential obstacles, you can then develop strategies to create smoke-free ORs. Likewise, education regarding the hazards of surgical smoke and adverse health effects of inhaling surgical smoke is key to building an action plan, because it's easier to make the case for smoke evacuation once the perioperative team knows the extent of the dangers. Typically, healthcare providers place their patients' welfare above their own. This could be helpful in terms of adopting a policy for J a n u a r y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 9