This month, the ASA published an article in the Journal of Anesthesia, “Surgical smoke and the anesthesia provider.” The article’s conclusion suggests that anesthesia’s support for smoke evacuation is growing. read more
New Oregon bill has bipartisan, bicameral support and is slated for hearing soon. read more
Colorado is now the second state to go smoke free! On March 28, 2019 Colorado passed bill HB-1041 mandating that all healthcare facilities implement a smoke free program by 1/1/2021. read more
The AORN Journal is pleased to include this special collection of surgical smoke evacuation posters that were presented at the 2018 AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo. read more
North Carolina is the nation’s largest grower of tobacco — but almost 10 years ago, it passed the strict Smoke-Free Restaurants and Bars law, banning smoke from thousands of establishments across the state. read more
Kim York has made changes at nearly every place she has worked, and Dosher Memorial Hospital is no exception. York, an operating room nurse and the director of surgical services, took on the difficult task last year of creating a program to eradicate harmful surgical smoke from the operating rooms at Dosher. read more
You can see it and smell it, it can make your eyes sting and your throat sore, yet surgical smoke hangs thick in the air of countless ORs across the country, a health hazard that's harder to get rid of than a pushy salesman. read more
You wouldn't want your surgeons to sit in the OR and smoke a pack-and-a-half of cigarettes while operating on their patients, but many are doing nearly the equivalent by creating surgical smoke and refusing to evacuate it. read more
Three Rivers Health showed off three new systems with technology that should reduce the risks of complications following surgery. The first is the SurgiCount Safety Sponge System. read more
Despite the risks associated with surgical smoke, evacuation devices have yet to be implemented in most operating rooms. A survey conducted by Stryker Instruments sought to quantify the level of OR nursing knowledge regarding surgical smoke exposure and the barriers around smoke evacuation system use. read more