Climate concerns end use of ‘laughing gas’ at St John’s Hospital

St Johns Hospital recently became the first healthcare facility in the Mid West region—and among the first in the country—to end the large-scale use of nitrous oxide gas for anaesthesia.

As part of a Mid West pilot project, the extensive pipework supplying the gas to operating theatres in St John’s was decommissioned on April 16th, ushering in the use of new mobile equipment to bring anaesthetic cylinders directly to theatre.

St John’s is the first healthcare facility in the Mid West and among the first hospitals in the country to take this step as a response to global warming.

Known as ‘laughing gas’ and once regarded as relatively harmless, nitrous oxide is no longer a laughing matter—it is recognised as an extremely potent and long-lasting greenhouse gas by a variety of international agencies and professional bodies, including the College of Anaesthesiology of Ireland.

The HSE’s Climate Action Strategy has targeted a 50% decrease in emissions from anaesthetic gases by 2030. The Mid West pilot scheme, which has since been extended to Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, is projected to surpass these targets based on preliminary results.

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Hugh O’Callaghan, who led the pilot projects for the Mid West, says the initial signs from St John’s alone are encouraging.

It is hoped that decommissioning of systems at other hospitals in the Mid West will follow within the coming months, pending full evaluation of the pilot initiatives.

Dr O’Callaghan added: “We have a responsibility to provide care as safely as possible for patients, while considering the impacts on staff and the wider environment. Nitrous oxide is safe to use but the infrastructure used to deliver it inevitably results in waste. We now have more modern techniques which means that as time goes on nitrous oxide is gradually becoming obsolete. There is a global effort to reduce anaesthetic gas emissions, and St John’s Hospital has been leading the way in this effort.”

Michelle Rogers, Director of Operations, St John’s Hospital, said: “There have been ambitious targets set at national level and I am delighted that St John’s is now firmly on track to achieve these.”