Help us Move Protection from Surgical Smoke Legislation Forward this Session
| We need every Nurse in Florida to please Call and Email Rep. Tomkow “Tallahassee” Office TODAY and ask her to PLEASE put HB 103 on her next Committee Agenda. (Florida 2025 Legislative Session) Please Be Humble – Be Nice – Be Positive – Be Polite! Treat her Staff like you would treat the Legislator. Tell her or her Staff, in your own words, about the Dangers of Surgical Smoke to over 500,000 Florida Health Care Workers and their patients each year. |
| How You Can Get Involved to Help Move This Bill Forward: Call Rep. Josie Tomkow at her District Office District Office209 Palmetto StAuburndale, FL 33823-3426 Phone Number: (863) 656-8520 Steps to Take: Call: Use the talking points provided as a guide, but speak in your own words. Ask for Rep. Tomkow to add HB 103 – Protection from Surgical Smoke on the next Health & Human Services Committee MeetingEmail: After your call, consider sending a follow-up email to both the legislator and their staff, including a copy of the talking points. Tips for Effective Communication: Be humble, kind, and polite.Maintain a positive tone.Personalize your message—don’t read directly from the talking points. Thank you for supporting this critical legislation! Support Protection from Surgical Smoke SB 152 by Senator Davis | HB 103 by Representative Woodson What is surgical smoke? Surgical smoke (plume) is the result of human tissue contact with lasers and electrosurgical pencils commonly used for dissection and hemostasis during surgery. Approximately 90% of all surgical procedures generate surgical smoke, and an estimated 500,000 health care workers are exposed to surgical smoke each year. The average daily impact of surgical smoke to the surgical team is the equivalent of inhaling the smoke of 27-30 unfiltered cigarettes. What makes surgical smoke dangerous? Surgical smoke contains over 150 hazardous chemicals and carcinogenic and mutagenic cells. It contains toxic gases and vapors such as benzene, hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, bioaerosols, dead and live cellular material, blood fragments, and viruses. It remains unknown whether COVID-19 may be transmitted to the surgical team by inhalation of surgical smoke, but research confirms other viruses can be transmitted through this smoke. In addition to the danger to health care workers, surgical smoke can cause cancer cells to metastasize in the incision site of patients having cancer removal surgery. Babies born by C-section breathe in their mother’s surgical smoke at birth. SOLUTION: Evacuate harmful surgical smoke. Surgical smoke can be safely and effectively eliminated with available technologies. Captured surgical smoke is disposed of as hazardous waste. It is important to note that surgical smoke evacuation does not involve construction costs or changes to a facility’s HVAC system or general room ventilation. Recognition of the hazards of surgical smoke Regulations and safety precautions recommended to minimize or eliminate the potential harm from smoke inhalation or absorption are offered by regulatory and standard-setting organizations including the following: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and The Joint Commission. Need for Smoke Evacuation Law While many agencies recognize the hazards of surgical smoke and a few even go on to recommend evacuation, there are no national or statewide enforceable requirements for the evacuation of surgical smoke. Many surgical facilities do evacuate during some procedures, but few facilities evacuate consistently during all procedures which generate surgical smoke. Nurses have little control over whether they are assigned to a smoking or non-smoking operating room. Whether or not smoke is evacuated during surgery tends to be based on team member’s decision to use or not use an evacuator. To date, fifteen states have enacted surgical smoke evacuation legislation, including: Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Missouri. |
Edwardbriggs
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