Airway Fire Prevention and Management in the Operating Room: A Mixed Methods Study on the Effectiveness of an...

Airway fires during laser surgery in Indian operation theaters are rare yet catastrophic, and most hospitals usually do not include laser airway fire prevention and management in their routine healthcare training programs.

To develop, implement, and assess the efficacy of an Interprofessional Simulation module for operating room (OR) personnel to prevent and manage airway fires in the OR.

A mixed-method study was conducted among an interprofessional OR team comprising anaesthesiology and ENT residents, nurses, and allied health practitioners. Thirty-one participants were immersed in both didactic lectures and in situ simulation scenarios. Validated pre- and posttest 1 questionnaires were given after didactic lectures, and a repeat posttest 2 questionnaire was given after the simulation. Team performance and communication skills were assessed using a validated observer checklist before and after the scenarios. The debriefing session postsimulation was audio-recorded and transcribed for thematic analysis. Attitude toward the IPSE module was assessed using the Retro-Pre validated questionnaire.

Quantitative data analysis revealed significant improvement in all three domains of knowledge (P = 0.001), attitude (P = 0.001), and performance towards the IPSE module (P = 0.012). Participants retained the knowledge, simulation scores on prevention and management, and significant improvement in team performance (P = 0.041) even after 6 months. Common themes such as defined roles, critical decision-making, collective troubleshooting, shared leadership, enhanced communication, realism, confidence gains, and learning from mistakes toward interprofessional simulation training were highlighted in the qualitative analysis done.

Implementing an IPSE module has shown promising results for enhancing knowledge and team performance in the prevention and management of laser airway fires.