ing in smoke evacuators would be pennies on the dollar to address a
known safety risk.
The best part? It's really not expensive if you work with a good ven-
dor and negotiate effectively. We needed 133 smoke evacuation sys-
tems, which typically cost between $1,200 and $2,000, for about 125
ORs. The vendor gave them to us for free, on consignment. They
wanted us to have the machines so they could sell us the disposable
electrosurgical pens. And that cost is a pittance. Electrosurgical pens
had cost us about $7; with smoke evac, they increased to just $21.
Our hospital's leadership ultimately decided price was no object
when it comes to protecting their employees. That's how it should be.
4. Trial the options
When we began evaluating smoke evacuation products, we took a
focused approach on finding the best product. In the process, we
addressed some of the naysayers' concerns. One of the biggest com-
plaints was that the electrosurgical pens with integrated smoke evacua-
tors would be bulky and heavy. But our research revealed that the
diameter and weight of a typical electrosurgical pen is 1.7 inches and 21
grams, and one with smoke evac is 1.875 inches and 30 grams. That's
equivalent to 9 paperclips.
The naysayers also expressed concern about noise, so we did
noise studies, and found the new machines only get as loud as 55
decibels. The humming of a refrigerator is 45 decibels. And we
found if you place the machine closer to the ground, it's even qui-
eter. Some products run only when the electrosurgical pen is activat-
ed, so you don't have to worry about that constant ambient noise.
Then we held a vendor fair. I invited everyone in the hospital, and
people could drop in all day. If the surgeons couldn't be there, their
frontline staff were; they knew what their surgeons would use and
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