Fire Safety in the Operating Room

It is estimated that approximately only 100 fires occur per 50 million surgical procedures a year, but this is still too many OR fires. For the patient involved, serious injury or death will occur due to the fire. This course provides education for the perioperative nurse regarding fires in the surgical setting. The nurse will be able to apply the fire triangle in the OR. The nurse will be able to discuss how the nurse, surgeon, and anesthesia provider can affect and control the fire triangle. More importantly, the nurse will have information on how to prevent and how to respond to a fire in the OR setting.

This course expires on June 30, 2010.

The approval number for this course is: #04208.

• Identify the best ways to prevent an OR fire
• Explain how the different members of the surgical team control the fire triangle
• Describe how to respond to a small, large fire or an airway fire in the OR setting
• Explain the evacuation process of an OR due to a fire

This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Tennessee Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.