S.B. 89, An Act Concerning Surgical Smoke, has a public hearing scheduled on MONDAY 3/7/22, beginning at 9am.

We are collecting testimony and letters of support for this legislation. 

As with cigarette smoke, surgical smoke can be seen and smelled. It is the result of human tissue being cut with mechanical tools and/or heat-producing devices, such as lasers and electro-surgery pencils commonly used for dissection and hemostasis. In other words, it's the smoke from burning flesh. An estimated 90% of all surgical procedures - including such common surgeries as cesarean sections, mastectomies, knee replacements and appendectomies - generate surgical smoke.

In the room where we are saving lives, we are risking our own. A single day working in an operating room without smoke evacuation is equivalent to inhaling the smoke of 27-30 unfiltered cigarettes. This must change.
The Connecticut Legislature has an opportunity to pass legislation - SB89 - that would ensure the health and safety of staff and patients through mandating evacuation of surgical smoke through requiring hospitals and surgery centers to adopt smoke free policies. 

Please return completed testimony and letters of support ASAP