Miss Mary wrote: I was confused on why the patient awaiting surgery went up in flames though.
In the words of Forrest Gump -- "It happens."
No, seriously, there are a lot of things that can contribute to surgical fires -- laser scalpels, alcohol-based skin preps, oxygen, and towels or gauze sponges on the sterile field can make for a heck of a combustion. Doesn't it take three things to make a fire -- an ignition source, oxygen, and fuel? Most of the time, I think they try to keep towels and sponges wet as well as ensuring that O2 is not leaking from the intubation. I don't know all the details, but we're experiencing the wonders *woohoo!

* of JCAHO week here at UTMB (the Joint Commisssion guys are the ones that make sure we're all doing our jobs with patient safety and confidentiality in mind). I'm not in the OR, but that's one of the things I read about in one of the gazillions of emails and website forms we were supposed to read in preparation for the Commission's visit.
Speaking of that, I need to hop on into bed and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow's my fourth 12-hour shift in a row and my last day for this week. They only visited our floor once (Monday) and we're waiting for the return (if it doesn't happen on night shift). Gotta get some rest and be on my toes. Eighteen years working in a hospital and I've only been questioned by a JCAHO surveyor once -- "What do you do if you answer the phone and receive a bomb threat?" I'm sure my luck is bound to run out soon...I'll probably get a question tomorrow.
Gee, go off-topic much, Duckie?
