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May 2002
Volume 66 |
Number 5
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| Waste Anesthetic Gases Videotape
Now Available |
Diane G. McGregor, M.B., Chair
Task Force on Trace Anesthetic Gases
In response to many requests, the ASA Task Force on Waste Anesthetic
Gases of the Committee on Occupational Health has made an educational
videotape called "The Facts About Waste Anesthetic Gases."
This video is intended for a wide audience of physicians and
other health care practitioners who work in areas where anesthesia
is given such as the operating room, postanesthesia care unit,
radiology, an office-based setting or other sites. The video follows
a similar theme and is complementary to the ASA booklet "Waste
Anesthetic Gases: Information for Management in Anesthetizing
Areas and the Post-anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)." It explains
in some detail the safety issues, research and epidemiologic studies,
regulations from agencies such as the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and scavenging equipment and
systems. Recommendations are made for practicing anesthesia in
a safe environment with reassurance that no health care practitioner
working in scavenged areas is at risk from any adverse health
effects from trace concentrations of waste anesthetic gases.
The video will be especially useful for trainees and for use
in lectures required by OSHA as part of the Employee Right to
Know Act. Both OSHA and JCAHO require hospitals to educate their
personnel on this subject, and the video offers an informed presentation.
The video can be obtained for $15 from ASA, 520 N. Northwest
Highway, Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573; telephone (847) 825-5586.
Single copies of the booklet on waste anesthetic gases are available
to ASA members on request; additional copies are $2 each.
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Diane G. McGregor,
M.B., is Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic,
Rochester, Minnesota. |
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