SB 442

This bill directs the Department of Health Services to require hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to adopt and implement policies to prevent exposure to surgical smoke in operating rooms by requiring the use of a smoke evacuation procedure in the operating room during any surgical procedure that is likely to generate surgical smoke. This bill does not require the use of a smoke evacuation system if the health care provider who is engaging in the surgical procedure that is likely to generate surgical smoke concludes that using a smoke evacuation system in the operating room during the surgical procedure is not necessary or advisable under the circumstances. Under the bill, “surgical smoke” is defined to mean the gaseous byproduct produced by energy-generating devices including surgical plume, smoke plume, bio-aerosols, laser-generated airborne contaminants, or lung-damaging dust. A smoke evacuation system is equipment that effectively captures and filters surgical smoke at the site of origin before the smoke makes contact with the eyes or respiratory tract of occupants in the room.