Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Health hazards'.
Found 35 results
-
Content ArticleFollowing a reported death, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) commissioned the Health and Safety Executive to undertake fire hazard testing with white soft paraffin on a variety of bandages, dressings and clothing. The results showed the ability to reproduce the fire hazard in a controlled environment. This risk was not previously well recognised.
-
Content ArticlePatient safety groups consider surgical fires “never events,” incidents that can be avoided entirely with organisational checks and balances. Yet, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has handled dozens of lawsuits and regulatory complaints involving surgical burns in recent years. According to a review of 54 cases of perioperative burns between 2012 and 2016, almost a third involved surgical fires, while the rest involved burns from surgical equipment and chemicals used in surgery. Many patients were left scarred, disfigured and psychologically traumatised. Fifteen percent were severely harmed, with airway damage or full-thickness burns destroying the sensory nerves and all layers of the skin.
-
Content ArticleFor over three decades, patients, consultants and perioperative staff have been exposed to diathermy tissue smoke in all operating hospital theatres. This smoke is called plaque and, when inhaled, is the same as smoking cigarettes. Research shows that inhalation of smoke from one gram of cauterised tissue is equal to smoking six cigarettes. This smoke is also cancerous and can mutate to other organs of the body just like cigarettes. Read my personal view of the harmful effects of diathermy smoke published in the Journal of Perioperative Practice, and also watch the short video kindly made for me by Knowlex UK.
- Posted
- 2 comments
-
1
-
- (and 9 more)
-
Content ArticleSmoking or a naked flame could cause patients’ dressings or clothing to catch fire when being treated with paraffin-based emollient that is in contact with the dressing or clothing. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) provided this update for healthcare professionals.
-
Content ArticleIn January 2017, I read an article in Outpatient Surgery involving an elderly patient in the US who suffered multiple burns following the use of chlorohexidine bottled alcoholic prep. The Oregon woman filed a million-dollar lawsuit against the Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center in Tigard, Ore., saying she suffered severe burns when her face caught on fire during an electrocautery procedure. Having read this tragic story and escalated it to my theatre manager and colleagues, I decided to design and evaluate a FRAS (Fire Risk Assessment Score) and use it as part of the WHO Surgical Checklist at "time out" to raise awareness of fires in operating theatres.
- Posted
- 3 comments
-
1
-
- (and 8 more)
-
Content ArticleA collection of resources from NHS Improvement to help you analyse, understand and improve the health and well-being of your workforce. Based on NHS Improvements's learning from the Improving Health and Well-being direct support programme, they have developed and collated some resources which will assist analysis of your quantitative and qualitative workforce data to drive and enable development of impactful evidence-based workforce health and well-being interventions.
-
Content ArticleThis action plan from the Ipswich & East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group follows on from an infection control norovirus outbreak.
-
Content ArticleSimon Whitely in this video responds to some of the comments received on his last video, where he talk about a high-level HCS Model of the Healthcare System and how interactions with the general public are key for patient safety. He also talks about the challenges between managing safety and the potential impacts upon the overall economy.
-
Content ArticleCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the COVID-19 virus, was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. On 30 January 2020, the WHO Director-General declared that the current outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. This document summarises WHO’s recommendations for the rational use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare and community settings, as well as during the handling of cargo; in this context, PPE includes gloves, medical masks, goggles or a face shield, and gowns, as well as for specific procedures, respirators (i.e., N95 or FFP2 standard or equivalent) and aprons. This document is intended for those who are involved in distributing and managing PPE, as well as public health authorities and individuals in healthcare and community settings, and it aims to provide information about when PPE use is most appropriate.
-
Content Article
Brighton Anaesthesia FFP3 Donning & Doffing
Claire Cox posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trusts Anaesthetic Department has produced this video demonstrating how to 'don' (put on) and 'doff' (take off) PPE pre- and post-intubation of a high risk/infected patient with COVID-19.
