Why do people wear shoe covers in the operating room?
š„ The reason may surprise you!
A š§µ about the #HistoryOfMedicine and the dangers of blindly following traditions.
https://onepagericu.com/blog/cx1l66qxj6epc5hhem4yxm7q4r3dfn
1/
š„ The reason may surprise you!
A š§µ about the #HistoryOfMedicine and the dangers of blindly following traditions.
https://onepagericu.com/blog/cx1l66qxj6epc5hhem4yxm7q4r3dfn
1/
Comments
White coats provide the enduring value of lots of big pockets to put papers and tools in that my ADHD brain wonāt leave behind because itās on my body
https://www.patagonia.ca/product/stealth-convertible-fly-fishing-vest/194187952273.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20Sale%20Items&utm_content=alwayson&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAl4a6BhBqEiwAqvrquqA9iyOXtFByEsdHhSfbSxgJjpL7xg8e7A6SUIE3DjamcplUbD3N8xoCwwAQAvD_BwE
And donāt they all have special OR only shoes just like OR only scrubs?
Please tell me people have hospital only uniforms and shoes?
Because I donāt want blood and C diff/MRSA leaving the hospital
Yes OR shoes and OR scrubs are best practices too, but neither is universally required.
Everyone masking up is great, now please notice that you need to have āinside hospital uniformsā that are washed by the facility and āoutside hospital clothesā and never the Twain shall meet.
Like lids on toilets! And sinks everywhere, firing offenses for not wearing safety gear.
š„ But there was a problem: OR fires & explosions!
ā”ļøThe buildup of static electricity could cause sparks and ignite the flammable mixture of ether & oxygen.
2/
š§»Wet towels could dissipate static during risky phases of surgery such as intubation.
š§±ORs could be be fitted with special grounded Terrazo floors.
But these solutions were impractical or expensive.
A better solution was needed.
3/
With this simple innovation it became possible to ground yourself just by putting on shoe covers, substantially reducing the risks of static electricity causing volatile anesthetic fires.
ā Problem solved!
4/
Fortunately medical progress continued & the era of flammable inhaled anesthetics soon passed.
But the OR ritual of donning shoe covers continued.
To save money, hospitals quietly switched to non conducting covers.
Yet the shoe ritual continued.
5/
Although the OR shoe covers raison d'etre is now long forgotten, people have invented a new rationale for wearing them: to protect their shoes from contamination and thereby reduce infection.
6/
Not only do shoe covers NOT reduce infection risk, the act of donning/doffing them puts more bacteria on your hands, likely INCREASING infection risk!
7/
Why do people wear shoe covers in the elevator and anywhere outside the OR?