Product Code: ILSC2009_704

Burning Behaviors of Drapes and Other Patient Covers
Authors:
Hans-Peter Berlien, Elisabeth Deacones Hospital; Berlin Germany
Presented at ILSC 2009

Operation Room fires are still an unsolved problem. The majority of OR-fire happens with other energy sources like electrocautery and endoscopic light sources.
But first the medical community discussed this problem using Lasers. The use of non-woven disposable drapes are named as the most risky situation. This was followed by investigation of several products called Laser safe. But on the other hand woven materials are regarde as Laser safe. Our investigations with different products has shon that the burning behaviour depends by several circumstances and can change within the same product from time to time. So in this paper aspects of handling are shown to reduce the risk of fire.