What’s New in the Patient Safety World
November 2009
ECRI:
Update to Surgical Fire Prevention
Surgical fires made the headlines again recently with the death of an Illinois woman following a surgical fire.
ECRI has just released its “New Clinical Guide to Surgical Fire Prevention”. This appears in the October issue of their subscription journal Health Devices. Though the subscription is a bit pricey, facilities can purchase just one issue for about $300. This one is probably worth the price.
The 2009 key change in clinical practice is discontinuing the open delivery of 100% oxygen during procedures done during sedation. They discuss ways to minimize the concentration of oxygen being used in a variety of scenarios.
Surgical fires are uncommon enough for staff to be poorly trained at both prevention and response once one actually occurs. Yet they are frequent enough that most OR staff will encounter one or more in a lifetime. Only with meticulous steps to minimize fire risk, identification of fire risk for each individual case, training and drills will OR staff be prepared to do what it takes to prevent fires and know their roles in responding immediately if a fire occurs.
Reference:
CBS11TV.com Illinois Woman Dies After Catching Fire During Surgery.
Sep 17, 2009 3:15 pm US/Central
http://cbs11tv.com/health/surgery.woman.catches.2.1191063.html
ECRI. Surgical Fire Prevention. 2009 update.
https://www.ecri.org/Products/Pages/Surgical_Fires.aspx
http://www.patientsafetysolutions.com
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