Dr. William Schecter Leads Workshop on Preventing Sharps Injuries in the Operating Room

CIR’s OR Safety Task Force put together a workshop February 19, 2009 in New York City with Dr.William Schecter, one of the leading experts in reducing occupational injuries in the operating room. Dr. Schecter is Chief of Surgery at San Francisco General Hospital and chairs the Committee on Perioperative Care of the American College of Surgeons.

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Beginning to Build a Culture of Safety at the ACS Meeting on OR Safety

Dr. Vaughn Whittaker, a Transplant fellow at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and a CIR NY Regional VP, and Sandy Shea, CIR Policy Director, attended the 2008 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in San Francisco on October 12-15, 2008. 

They were on a mission: to meet the College's OR Safety "movers and shakers" and to learn about new information and best practices on the topic of OR Safety.  They found a wealth of information on promoting a culture of safety in the OR.

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Committee of Interns and Residents Launches OR Safety Task Force

In December 2007, CIR News reported on a New England Journal of Medicine article that revealed high rates of surgery resident needlesticks. CIR News also interviewed CIR surgical resident members about the article and their own experience with needlesticks. Why are surgery residents getting so many sticks? Why are rates of reporting sticks so low? And how do residents come to grips with the serious occupational exposure they face on a daily basis?

To begin answering these important questions, CIR has formed an OR Safety Task Force.

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Needlesticks and OR Safety

Doctors and needlesticks.

The very nature of our work exposes us on a daily basis to occupational injury and the possibility of contracting a blood-borne disease – HIV, HCV and HBV. Too often, however, we respond to that danger with denial.

Learn more about the scope of the needlestick problem and what residents can do to protect themselves.

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