RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – A breath of fresh air is coming to North Carolina’s operating rooms. Thanks to legislation signed July 1, hospitals will soon be required to clear the air—literally—by filtering out hazardous surgical smoke by 2026. Amanda Heitman, President of the North Carolina Council of Operating Room Nurses, says in the operating room it is exposed to them all day long every day.
“We’ve been fighting this for several years now and we’re very very happy that this has finally been approved,” said Heitman.
The bill is going to allow them to put rules in place to help facilitate proper smoke evacuations in the operating rooms for surgical procedures. Heitman says this is going to provide them a safe environment free from those types of dangers.
“We’ve had these devices ready to go, we’ve been using them on and off for years but now we’re going to be able to have them provided every single time,” said Heitman.
According to Steris.com, these smoke evacuation systems capture, filter and remove surgical smoke from the operating room. This will allow them to be in a healthier work world. However, the difficulty of all of this is that they’ve been exposed for so long a lot of people have gotten sick.
“We’re hoping that now that it’s law that they’re going to do it every single time and keep it safer,” said Heitman.
This is going to keep everyone in a safer environment free from smoke-related dangers.
According to Becker’s Clinical Leadership, surgical smoke refers to the gaseous byproduct that develops as a direct result of the destruction of tissue by electrosurgery, lasers, electrosurgery, drills and saws. Hospitals will have to put some policies in place and take action to make sure the standards are being upheld.
“They’re going to have to keep the staff and the surgeons accountable and make sure they are providing a safe environment for the workers and the patients,” said Heitman.
Thanks to Reps. Carla Cunningham and Donna White, hospitals will now be required to clear out hazardous surgical smoke. Heitman says this goes across the board as a better type of environment for everyone.