Patient Safety Authority Logo

Skip navigation links
HOME
PATIENT SAFETY AUTHORITYExpand PATIENT SAFETY AUTHORITY
PA-PSRS and PASSKEYExpand PA-PSRS and PASSKEY
PATIENT SAFETY ADVISORIESExpand PATIENT SAFETY ADVISORIES
PATIENTS AND CONSUMERSExpand PATIENTS AND CONSUMERS
NEWS AND INFORMATIONExpand NEWS AND INFORMATION
COLLABORATIONSExpand COLLABORATIONS
EDUCATIONAL TOOLSExpand EDUCATIONAL TOOLS
AUTHORITY EVENTSExpand AUTHORITY EVENTS







ADDRESS:
Patient Safety Authority
333 Market Street
Lobby Level
Harrisburg, PA 17120


Phone: 717-346-0469
Fax: 717-346-1090


  
Educational Tools 
Airway Fires during Surgery 
Ways to Minimize Airway Fires 
Airway surgeries that involve ignition sources to cut or coagulate tissue (e.g., electrosurgical units, lasers) pose a significant and sometimes deadly risk of fire. Hazards exist when these ignition sources are used in the oxygen-enriched atmospheres (i.e., more than 23% O2) that are commonly present in the airway during surgery.
 

 Educational Resources
Airway Fires during Surgery
Airway surgeries that involve ignition sources to cut or coagulate tissue pose a significant and sometimes deadly risk of fire. This poster discusses ways to minimize and fight airway fires.

 Articles
Surgical Fires: Trends Associated with Prevention Efforts
Seventy events of fires on the operating field were reported to the Authority in the seven years between 2004 and 2011. A coordinated approach to surgical fire prevention that includes risk assessment and adherence to best-practice recommendations is important to eliminate fire hazards.
FDA Launches Surgical Fire Prevention Initiative
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s surgical fire prevention initiative is a collaborative effort between the clinical community and patient safety organizations to encourage safe practices and to develop interventions.
OR Fire Prevention Video Available
The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation offers a free video on its Web site that promotes best practices regarding the prevention of surgical fires in the operating room.
Airway Fires during Surgery
Following safe practices can help reduce the likeliness of fires during airway surgery that involves ignition sources such as electrosurgical units.

 Companion Online Information
Prevention and Management of Operating Room Fires
The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation offers this free 18-minute video. The video promotes best practices to preventing a fire in the operating room (OR), including controlling oxygen concentration levels at or near the surgical site, and extrapolates OR fire statistics based in part on analysis of events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority.
Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s surgical fire prevention initiative is a collaborative effort between the clinical community and patient safety organizations to encourage safe practices and to develop interventions.
 
©2013 Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority                                                Home      Who We Are      Contact Us     Subscribe to Advisories and Press Releases   Site Map     Privacy Statement