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Dear Colleagues:

To better serve our members and the patients they care for, AORN has produced The Fire Safety Tool Kit. AORN believes that these tools will:

• meet everyday practice needs,
• help with annual competencies for evacuation planning and fire drills,
• raise awareness for communication and collaborative planning, keeping in mind OR efficiency and cost,
• make fire safety measures an integral part of the work day and not an added burden, and
• help the perioperative team plan care of their patients and themselves.

The Fire Safety Tool Kit is a result of a multidisciplinary team that includes experts in the field. The team comprised AORN; ECRI; the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management; the American Society for Healthcare Engineering; Russell Phillips and Associates; and the Hartford; Connecticut, Fire Department Deputy Chief; family members of patients who have experienced a fire in the perioperative area, and healthcare facilities that have experienced a patient fire.

It is my hope you will review the tool kit and involve your local fire department, facility safety officer, security, plant operations, and risk manager in putting your fire prevention plan into use. Sharing your information on your facilities' initiatives for fire safety will let your patients know you value their safety.

We must create opportunities to collaborate with others if we are to be successful in creating models where we as perioperative nurses are recognized for our expertise, thereby displaying our leadership role.

The appropriate time to discuss the possibility of a fire and the safety measures to take is during a time out prior to a procedure when all team members are present. Don't be complacent and think a surgical fire will never happen; your patients depend on you to help protect them.

Sincerely,





Paula Graling, RN, MSN, CNS, CNOR
AORN President, 2006-2007