scope:

The purpose of this standard is to establish performance and maintenance criteria for anesthetizing locations and for equipment and facilities ancillary thereto, for safeguarding patients and health care personnel from fire, explosion, electrical, and related hazards associated with the administration of both flammable and nonflammable inhalation anesthetics.

This standard covers all anesthetizing locations and related storage areas within hospitals in which inhalation anesthetics are administered.

This standard covers ambulatory care facilities which are part of a hospital as well as any ambulatory care facility in which flammable inhalation anesthetics are administered. This standard does not apply to anesthetizing locations situated in freestanding ambulatory care facilities in which only nonflammable anesthetics are administered (see NFPA .56G).

This standard is intended to provide requirements to protect against explosions or fires, electric shock, mechanical injury from compressed gases or compressed gas cylinders, or anoxia from erroneous gas connections and similar hazards, without unduly limiting the activities of the surgeon or anesthesiologist. This principle, without minimizing any of the aforementioned dangers, recognizes that the physicians shall be guided by all the hazards to life that are inherent to surgical procedures carried out in anesthetizing locations.

This standard does not cover animal operative facilities unless the animal operative facility is integral to a hospital and uses flammable anesthetics.

The provisions of this standard &pot apply to the manufacture, storage, transportation, or handling of inhalation anesthetics prior to delivery to the consuming health care facility. They do not apply to any use other than in an anesthetizing location and related storage areas.

intended Use: