Nurses, perioperative staff press committee to require smoke evacuation in operating rooms statewide

Nurses, perioperative professional groups and patient‑safety advocates told the Joint Committee on Public Health that surgical smoke is an occupational hazard that should be addressed by statute.

Several witnesses urged lawmakers to enact House Bill 24‑42 and Senate Bill 14‑82, which would require hospitals and freestanding ambulatory surgical facilities to adopt policies ensuring use of surgical smoke evacuation systems.

Frontline testimony: “This is my bag. These are my inhalers, my allergy pills, my steroid creams, steroid pills, and nasal sprays,” said Andrea Dyer, an operating‑room nurse, holding up medicines…