If Dr. Wolf’s data regarding non-reported OR fires is correct an even greater number of flash fire or near-miss OR fires occurs daily throughout this country.
What do we know about the reported surgical fires? Surgical fires unlike any other type of healthcare fire, typically involves an anesthetized patient. Surgical fires don’t always have to occur in the operating room. Yes, the traditional hospital operating room is a primary site, but don’t forget about the ambulatory surgery center, and the endoscopy suite. Even the physician’s office can be the potential site of a surgical fire. Any fire that occurs inside any surgical setting places the patient at great potential risk of serious injury that can have fatal consequences. An anesthetized patient lying on an OR surgical table is not capable of self-preservation and must rely on the OR surgical team for his or her own well being.
Fire is a chemical reaction that involves the rapid oxidation of a combustible material accompanied by the generation of heat and light energy. Today, the four-sided fire tetrahedron is used instead of the fire triangle because it depicts the present day view of combustion and extinguishment. The fire tetrahedron was created because of the development of fire extinguishing chemicals such as potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate and the vaporizing liquid agents halon and haltron. These newer extinguishing agents actually prevent or stop the chemical chain reaction process resulting in extinguishment. Each of the four elements must be properly combined to represent the combustion process (fuel, oxygen, heat, and a chemical chain reaction).
Fuels simply stated are carbon-based materials that are oxidized or consumed in the combustion process.
Fuels are present in all aspects of our daily lives. We use them to construct our homes, to propel our vehicles to and from work and to heat our homes. Fuels occur in one of three physical states: a solid, a liquid or a gas. Solids fuels have a large surface to mass ratio and are the hardest to ignite. Solid fuels must be heated sufficiently to produce a gaseous vapor that initiates the combustion process. We know that a sheet of plywood being stored in the upright position is more ignitable that a stack of plywood sheets stored on the floor. Likewise, surgical drapes placed horizontally over the patient would burn more slowly that a drape hanging over the side of the surgical field.
