Introduction: Electrical safety refers not only to patient safety while he or she is in the operating room but also to the safety of the personnel caring for the patient. The major hazards can be classified as a macro shock, micro shock & thermal burns. Macroshock: Encompasses the range of electrical currents greater than 1 milliamperes, which represents the perception threshold. Current greater than 6 amperes cause sustained myocardial contraction, respiratory paralysis, and severe shock and burns.
Macroshock is an uncommon occurrence in an operating room because 1 isolation transformers 2 insulation of electrical equipment 3 patient isolation from from ground 4 proper grounding of equipment 5 line isolation of monitoring. Microshock: The term applies to very small amounts of current that are below levels necessary for perception. Significant morbidity has resulted from currents as…
