All staff should be provided with opportunities to familiarise themselves with all equipment by attending formal training sessions.21 Training sessions should be documented accordingly.
All anaesthetic equipment should be checked prior to use in accordance with the Association of Anaesthetists published guidelines.25 Anaesthetic machine checks should be recorded in a logbook and on the anaesthetic chart.
All procedures should be compliant with National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) and the Safe Surgery Checklist.26,27 An appropriate ‘pre-list check’ of the anaesthesia systems, facilities, equipment, supplies and resuscitation equipment should be performed prior to the start of each list.21
Appropriate equipment should be available to monitor a patient’s temperature, to minimise heat loss and to provide active patient warming.24
All patient trolleys should be capable of being tipped into the head-down position and should be easily transferrable to the rest of the hospital.24 The exception to this is the MR safe trolleys.
Access to lifts for easy trolley transfer should be available.
Procedure rooms should be large enough to accommodate equipment and personnel, with enough space to move about safely and to enable easy access to the patient at all times.19
Environments in which patients receive anaesthesia or sedation should have full facilities for resuscitation available, including a defibrillator, suction, oxygen, airway devices, an escalating plan of airway intervention equipment, including equipment required to manage a difficult airway and a means of providing ventilation.20
The anaesthetist should consider all environmental factors when planning administration of anaesthesia or sedation.21
