Colorado Smoke Evacuation Bill Passes House

Colorado HB19-1041 passed the Colorado House in late January, just a week after the House Health & Insurance Committee unanimously voted to send the bill forward.  AORN perioperative nursing specialist, Mary Ogg, RN, MSN, CNOR, and several AORN members delivered powerful testimony on their firsthand experiences and the effects of surgical smoke. The Colorado Hospital Association also testified in support.

The bill would require facilities to adopt and implement a policy that prevents human exposure to surgical smoke via the use of a surgical smoke evacuation system and covers all planned surgical procedures likely to generate surgical smoke.

The bill does not require use of specific equipment or processes. Facilities and surgeons are free to choose the evacuation system and methods that work best based on patient, procedure and facility needs.

The bill will be heard soon in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. We still need OR nurses and surgical team members to share their stories about working under the effects of surgical smoke with these Senators. Please contact AORN’s Director of Government Affairs, Amy Hader, at [email protected] or (303) 338-4891 to share your story.