Between 550 and 650 surgical fires occur each year across the country, according to the AORN Journal.
Here are three strategies from the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses to strengthen fire safety programs and prevent surgical fires.
1. Gather a multidisciplinary team of stakeholders. Every member who participates in a surgery and preparing the operating and/or procedure room is a stakeholder in surgical fire safety. This includes not only clinicians such as nursing personnel, surgeons and anesthesiologists, but also technicians, residents, assistants, students, radiographers, perfusionists, engineers and environmental services personnel.
2. Consider both systematic and non-systematic causes for fires, and determine how to mitigate those risks. Systematic fire risks are those that apply to everything within a system as opposed to one specific entity. Mitigating such risks includes assessing the condition of the OR, potential sources of ignition, flammable materials and the condition of the equipment. Non-systematic risks are those that apply to a specific circumstance, and can be addressed by evaluating the patient and the procedure to determine sources of increased surgical fire risk.
3. Discuss fire prevention daily. After developing a fire risk assessment and risk-reduction strategies, review them during preoperative briefings. Additionally, discussing fire risks in postoperative debriefings can help raise awareness of fire prevention tactics and use near-miss events as educational opportunities.
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