their experience matters. It's always helpful to have those personal
stories to share with legislators — especially those tug-at-your-heart-
string stories."
What more can you do to pave the way for legislation? Familiarize
yourself with the known dangers of inhaling surgical smoke.
Identify a legislator who'd be a good sponsor. "The more grassroots
advocates we have, the less that we'll need to do on our end so we
can best use our resources and time," says Ms. Pennock. Invite a
legislator to an informational meeting at your facility to talk about
surgical smoke."You don't want to introduce a bill and introduce
yourself at the same time," says Ms. Pennock.
Legislative approach
AORN's legislative approach is not complicated by design. The bills
simply require hospitals and ASCs to adopt a policy requiring surgical
smoke evacuation in those procedures likely to generate surgical
5 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 9
Join the Mandatory Surgical Smoke Evacuation Movement
One facility at a time, one state
at a time, the battle for smoke-
free ORs is being fought at the
local level. Get an update on
mandatory smoke evacuation
legislation from AORN's senior
manager of government affairs — and hear from OR leaders just like
you who've taken matters into thier own hands by lobbying their
state lawmakers and their surgeons. This informative and
inspirational session will show you what you can do to fight one of
the largest unaddressed health hazards facing OR staff today.
Jennifer Pennock, AORN Government Affairs
Melony Prince, BSN, RN, CNOR, Littleton (Colo.) Adventist Hospital
Janelle Casanave, RN, Kaiser Permanente, San Jose, Calif.
Thursday, Oct. 3
