Health and safety regulations apply to the handling of people as well as inanimate objects. When lifting and moving people, you need to be careful of their safety as well as that of those doing the moving. Handling people in operating theatres adds extra hazards to beware of.
Conscious or Unconscious Patients
If a patient is conscious, it is important to move him or her in a way that minimises pain and discomfort and maximises dignity. Patients who are sedated or unconscious cannot cooperate or tell if you are hurting them, and the task of moving and positioning them requires a high level of skill and knowledge in an adequate team of handlers.
The number of people performing the task is important to ensure that the patient is safe and no-one is placed at risk of injury through lifting or carrying too heavy a load. Teams should have an agreed leader to direct them. That way everyone involved will know what to do, and when.
The team must maintain the patient’s correct body alignment and support the limbs in natural positions. A patient should never be allowed to come into contact with any metal part of the operating table or there could be a risk of diathermy burns. Competent positioning keeps the patient safe with the operating site adequately exposed and prevents certain postoperative complications.
Specialist Competencies
Operating theatre patient handling teams must also be familiar with the use of specialist handling aids for the environment, such as a slide sheet, hover mat or pat slide. There may also be items such as catheters and drip tubes which need to be supervised so they don’t catch on anything and get pulled out.
They need a good knowledge of the physiological implications of the patient’s positioning and the right moving techniques. Each patient’s positioning needs must be individually assessed. The team could be required to turn the patient into supine and prone positions, i.e. lying on their front or back. They must also be able to put them into the lithotomy position with their legs in stirrups.
Moving and Handling Objects
Lifting and moving patients is not the only manual handling issue in operating theatres. Operating table attachments, which can be heavy or awkward to manoeuvre, may also need to be lifted or moved.
Specialist training is essential for all the manual and people handling tasks in the operating theatre. Alistair Bromhead Ltd clients in the health care sector have been delighted with courses tailored to cover these and other specialist areas to suit their needs. For more information on these courses, get in touch.