{"id":184555,"date":"2022-04-21T06:30:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T10:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=184555"},"modified":"2022-04-21T13:46:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T17:46:36","slug":"reducing-the-carbon-footprint-in-the-or","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/04\/reducing-the-carbon-footprint-in-the-or\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing the Carbon Footprint in the OR"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Earth Day 2022 nears, and the pandemic, with its draw on institutional resources, subsides, UConn Health is taking stock of its sustainability efforts. Some are new, some are on hold from before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

And one in particular has been happening over the last year anyway.<\/p>\n

\n

What that\u2019s doing is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 50%. — Dr. Adam Fischler<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Adam Fischler, UConn Health anesthesiologist, is leading sustainability efforts in the operating room. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under an initiative spearheaded by Dr. Adam Fischler, an anesthesiologist with several roles and titles at UConn Health, including \u201csection chief, sustainability,\u201d the anesthesia providers are using less anesthesia gas while providing the same care to surgical patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen anesthetic gases are released into the scavenging system, these global warming gases are released from our rooftop directly into the atmosphere,\u201d Fischler says. \u201cWe can reduce this by reducing the flow of air and oxygen when delivering anesthesia to patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historically, in a typical general anesthesia case, the air and oxygen flow rate to deliver the anesthetic gas would be at least 2 liters per minute. But that\u2019s more than double what the body actually needs. excess flow is removed from the system, carrying with it the molecules of anesthetic gas, and gets released to the environment. Since the body \u00a0metabolizes less than 5% of the gas, nearly the entire amount of gas is eventually scavenged and released. With a lower flow rate, less anesthesia gas is picked up, so less ends up in the atmosphere. The patient still gets the same concentration of anesthesia gas while increasing efficiency, reducing waste, and saving money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing now is, we\u2019re using between 1 and 1.2 liters per minute,\u201d Fischler says. \u201cWhat that\u2019s doing is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 50%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, with the help of UConn Health\u2019s software programmers, Fischler has implemented a pop-up reminder in Epic, the electronic health record system, which alerts providers to keep gas flows at or below 1.2 liters per minute during general anesthesia.<\/p>\n

Another consideration is the type of anesthetic gas used. When comparing the top three \u2014 desflurane, sevoflurane, and nitrous oxide \u2014 there\u2019s a clear-cut winner when it comes to environmental considerations, measured by greenhouse gas potency or \u201clifetime\u201d in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cSevoflurane, while still a greenhouse gas, causes the least global warming,\u201d Fischler says. \u201cNitrous oxide is three times worse as a global warming gas, lasting more than 100 years in our atmosphere, and depleting the ozone layer. Desflurane is 28 times worse than Sevoflurane. There may be a slight trade-off but not enough to make up for the harm to the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

These practices have become more mainstream in anesthesiology over the last two years, embraced by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.<\/p>\n

While anesthesiology is one of the biggest components of the OR\u2019s carbon footprint, other sustainability targets include a shift toward more reusable supplies to reduce waste, and continuing to improve the practice of differentiating waste for proper disposal or recycling.<\/p>\n

One tactic already in use at UConn Health\u2019s pharmacy is the dispensing of certain medications directly into the syringe rather than in a vial that later needs to be transferred into a syringe, with the unused portion wasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscussion and awareness can foster the thought process, and that\u2019s gone a long way,\u201d Fischler says. \u201cPeople kept coming up with ideas for reducing waste and providing more sustainable health care practices. This necessary endeavor is not a one-person job. It requires a coordinated response from many clinical and administrative individuals to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eric
Eric Kruger is UConn Health’s vice president of facilities development and operations. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the OR, here\u2019s a rundown on sustainability efforts at UConn Health, according to Eric Kruger, vice president of facilities development and operations:<\/p>\n

Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Steam trap repairs to improve efficiency of heat and hot water systems<\/li>\n
  • Seven buildings with either LEED Gold or LEED Silver certification, resulting in minimal carbon footprints<\/li>\n
  • Retrofit lighting to LED fixtures at the fire house and the Administrative Services Building (second and third floors)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Underway<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Combined with Storrs, UConn Health purchases a firm supply of 100% green electrical power, which gives the University credits to offset its carbon footprint<\/li>\n
    • Request for proposal to install fuel cell technology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Upcoming<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Retrofit lighting to LED fixtures \u2013 street lights and parking lots<\/li>\n
      • Update fume hoods in research labs with occupancy sensors and programmable air changes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        \u201cWe\u2019re also planning to reconvene UConn Heath\u2019s sustainability work group later this year,\u201d Kruger says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        When it comes to sustainability efforts, UConn Health\u2019s operating rooms are leading the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":184556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2294,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-184555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-surgery","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-01 01:59:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184555"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184756,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555\/revisions\/184756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/184556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184555"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=184555"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=184555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}