Anesth Analg 2006;102:172-174
© 2006 International Anesthesia Research Society
doi: 10.1213/01.ane.0000183641.09008.f2
TECHNOLOGY, COMPUTING, AND SIMULATION
Fires in the Operating Room and Intensive Care Unit: Awareness is the Key to Prevention
Rajnish Prasad, MD,
Zenaide Quezado, MD,
Arthur St. Andre, MD, and
Naomi P. O'Grady, MD
Critical Care Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Naomi P. O'Grady, MD, Medical Director, Procedures, Vascular Access, and Conscious Sedation Services, Critical Care Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 7D43, 10 Center Dr., MSC 1662, Bethesda, MD 20892. Address e-mail to nogrady{at}mail.cc.nih.gov.
Recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to use alcohol-based substances for hand hygiene and skin antisepsis could introduce new fire hazards in the operating room (OR) (1). This potential for an increase in the number of fires in the hospital setting with wide spread use of alcohol-based agents warrants heightened awareness of the risks and implementation of safety measures when using these agents. Here, we report a patient who, during a tracheostomy, sustained severe burns resulting from a fire in the OR. In this case, the use of an alcohol-based antiseptic was the major contributing factor to the surgical fire.
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