Climate change is among the most significant topics of the 21st century—and data show the US contributes a disproportionate amount of healthcare emissions, particularly through resource-intensive surgery.
The growing awareness of surgery’s impact on climate change makes it essential for surgeons to understand how they can be part of the solution, according to Mehul V. Raval, MD, MS, FACS, who will co-moderate today’s Panel Session, “Climate Change Begins at 7:15: Our Unsustainable Future in the OR.” The session will take place from 2:30 to 4:00 pm in Room 155 Upper Mezzanine South.
“The OR itself is such a focal point and high producer of waste and carbon dioxide emissions, so what we need to do is make sure we are aware that we are indeed contributing to some of the challenges,” Dr. Raval said.
Raising awareness is the first step for surgeons, with the next being to start critically appraising where opportunities to reduce waste and improve sustainability exist in respective operating rooms. These solutions can and must include surgeons but also require efforts from nursing, anesthesia, engineering, facilities staff, and beyond.
“I imagine that almost every single surgeon in the US could identify at least one project in their ORs that could result in improved environmental stewardship,” Dr. Raval said, emphasizing that surgeons are going to be the linchpin of improvements to climate footprint.
The session will highlight some examples of work that surgeons have done on the front lines, as well as put numbers to the overall scale and impact of the US healthcare system—an industry that creates more than 8% of the US’s greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the core roles that surgeons can serve is to lead a multidisciplinary “green team” that pulls from all sectors of the hospitals.
Panelists also will discuss a wide range of topics, including how a surgeon is leading efforts at a large, complex hospital system to improve waste management at a root level. Separating reusable trash and biologic waste after the fact is inefficient, Dr. Raval said, and understanding the correct use of refuse bins can make sustainability much less labor intensive.
“Each of us can do small things on the front lines in our day-to-day activity, like conserving materials, being thoughtful about our water waste and our use of disposable instrumentation, but that continues all the way through creating and influencing system level changes which are going to be very important as time goes on,” Dr. Raval said.
And because surgeons always prioritize the health and safety of the patients in front of them, there are ethical dilemmas that come with increasing attention to sustainability. Part of the discussion will focus on trying to balance doing what is right for the patient and what is right for the institution with a responsibility to society and the environment on a broader scale.
Conversations around the role of surgeons in responding to climate change are still in their nascent stage, Dr. Raval said, but there is already much to learn.
“We hope we inspire some surgeons to go home and think about how they can make an impact themselves,” he said.
