Distractions in the Operating Theatre & Leaving the Room
- new ERAS Team
- Sep 19, 2021
- 2 min read
newERAS began liaising with the regulating authority on these issues from 2020. For several years prior to this, we have been individually advising all our colleagues to follow the ANZCA Position Statements such as PS 18 as published and updated by ANZCA including Dr Peter Roessler. It was claimed in 2020 incorrectly that regulators were condoning the type of practices by some. Our Team at newERAS did not entertain the idea of leaving the operating theatre or not having a qualified assistant available at all times and informed the DHHS Vic of this need in the sector.
Later, in early 2021, a letter was sent to all anaesthetic service providers to the effect that the regulators for services do not condone Anaesthetists leaving the theatre area and the registered nurse or qualified preoperative anaesthetic assistant must be immediately available at all times. We are also aware of disturbing external reports and even confirmations of instances of either the anaesthetic nurses not being available, or the anaesthetist leaving the theatre surroundings for an extended period. We have even seen false reports of these types of issues by persons with nefarious, commercial, cover up diversion or other ulterior motives.
As a part of our processes we have reviewed some cases and the literature as well. We found some good brief resource material on distractions as an introductions to the topics and we wanted to share below from WebAIRS/ANZTADC,the national archives "Electronic Code of Federal regulations" for flight crew, and SAMBA from the ASA in USA. We believe distractions are both relevant to our response times and are contained in some WebAIRS reports. We want to provide this, hope we can all help support one another maintain our vigilance for the safety of our patients:
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