OR Flashcards
Leading cause of medical errors/patient harm
ineffective communication
Ineffective communication causes about ___ % of sentinel events.
70
Most common med errors
opioids
muscle relaxants
antibiotics
1 in ___ anesthetics are assoc. w/ an error
133
OR temp
when is it higher?
68-73 F
burns, peds, greater body exposure, trauma
Hypothermia risk factors
wound infxn
higher blood loss
impaired coagulation
OR humidity
30-60%
too low = greater airborne motility (infxn risk)
OR air exchange frequency
25x/hr
How loud can it get in the OR?
70-80 decibels
Fire Triad
Ignition source
Oxidizer
Fuel
Fire risk factors
- Increased risk w O2 concentration of 30% or greater
- Surgery above the xiphoid
- Laser surgery and surgery in the airway
- Alcohol-based skin preps that don’t dry
Fire prevention
*COMMUNICATION
*O2 <30%
*let alcohol dry
* Wet gauze around the area to prevent
* Turn O2 down for 2-3 min before surgeon needs cautery
Airway Fire
- Turn off gas source
- Stop vent
- Pull breathing tube
- Pour saline in the airway
- Reintubate
CO2 extinguisher
when to use
pros
Safe during external and internal exposure for fires in the OR
Nontoxic
readily dissipates
less likely to cause thermal injury
not liquid
Electric shock is produced by ___.
current
NOT VOLTAGE
What do line isolation monitors do?
- Continuously monitors the integrity of an isolated power system
- Does not provide complete protection from electrocution
alarms @ 2-5 mA
alarm = leak
Which is more common?
microshock
macroshock
macroshock
OR power is ____. Machines in the OR are ___.
(grounded/ungrounded)
OR = ungrounded
machines = grounded
Maximum harmless current
5 mA (miliamps)
Most common cause for macroshock?
damaged/faulty equipment wiring
Isolation transformer
isolates the operating room power supply from ground
T/F
You can use the outlets in the back of the anesthesia machine for equipment.
False
don’t plug stuff into the back of the machine
If the line isolation monitor starts alarming, what does this mean? Are we all gonna die?
alarms at 2-5 miliamps
reading is not the actual current flowing
it is how much current WOULD flow in the event of a second fault (a second fault could/would be bad)
does not indicate a hazardous situation
it indicates that OR is no longer isolated from the ground
If the line isolation alarms, do we unplug life support machines?
No
unplug all other nonvital equipment, as this may be reason for alarm
vital equipment can be safely used but do not plug in more equipment, as it can introduce a second fault