Surgical fires must become 'Never Events' (July 2020)

Summary

Surgical fires, which in the perioperative environment is a fire that occurs on or in a patient while in the operating theatre, are recognised as an international patient safety concern. This is due to the risks of injury to both patients and healthcare professionals. Surgical fires are categorised as either airway or non-airway and occur most commonly in the head, face, neck, upper chest or during ENT surgical procedures.

The Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) along with a coalition of patient safety focused organisations are calling for more to be done to prevent surgical fires. Lindsay Keeley, patient safety and quality lead for the AfPP, explains why such incidents must be classified as ‘Never Events’, the common causes of surgical fires and the AfPP recommendations and standards for safe use of devices.

Content

The fire triangle below sets out the three elements that must be present for a surgical fire to occur within the operating theatre: