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weeks to get their feet wet
before auditing their perform-
ances.
A champion reported back
that one of the surgeons took
the enhanced time out a step
further by asking his team if
they knew where the nearest
fire extinguisher was stored.
That was a great question, and
something we'll address moving
forward as we consider whether
to add fire response to the list of
safety topics discussed during
time outs.
Fire events are rare, but they
do occur. And when they do
happen, you can trace the caus-
es back to the presence of each
element of the fire triangle.
It's
not that surgical teams don't
care about fire safety, but per-
haps they're not fully aware of
the risks. We hope our improved
protocols change their perspec-
tives.
OSM
T
o give staff pause when they
bring flammable agents to
the sterile field, store the
items in red plastic bins and away from
all other supplies. The red bins serve as
a visual cue for whoever pulls the items
for use. Hopefully, they'll remember to
alert the surgical team that a flammable
agent is entering the sterile field and all
ignition sources should be shut off or
disconnected — whatever needs to be
done to break the fire triangle. Staff
should not pick flammable items before
cases. The point is to have the circulator
retrieve them as needed, especially if it's
later in a case, so she stops to think
about the dangers involved and warns
the surgical team.
— Paula Marentay, RN, CNOR
CODE RED
Store Flammable
Agents in Red Bins
z STOP AND THINK Red bins remind staff
about the dangers of flammable agents.
Paula
Marentay,
RN,
CNOR
Ms. Marentay (pshm@umich.edu) is the edu-
cational nurse coordinator at the University of
Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor.
