Hi Adrian,
The point is that the Surgeon and members of the electrosurgery "team" have to make the decisions regarding electrosurgery - no-one else can (certainly not a technologist or Engineer as far as I am aware) - it is clearly the Surgeons responsibility to look after the welfare of the patient. The surgeon will have had lots of basic training under supervision, be highly educated, should have experience in the use of, should be fully conversant with, electrosurgery equipment and more specifically with the equipment he/she uses routinely.
The surgeon is responsible for the clinical outcome RE: the outcome of the patient being operated on. It's in the surgeon's own interest and that of patients' for the Surgeon to be aware of the risks associated with electrosurgery; this includes the fundamental principles and an appreciation of what happens to RF current and voltages in the body (including safety aspects).
I think that it's a bit rich to question Surgeons' ability to make (possibly informed or not) decisions themselves. Of course these decisions must be based on current practice, guidelines, recommendations, technical advice from experts, literature or their peers - but they don't have to - the final (albeit more informed with credible, reliable, expert technical advice) decision rests with them.
Precisely because they are responsible, highly educated, intelligent people, who "make life and death decisions every day", then I would have thought that the basic concepts of electrosurgery and safety aspects are not beyond them. There is plenty of material on the subject out there - clinically biased information that describes the principles, clinical usage of electrosurgery equipment and associated risks. I would urge Surgeons to establish the validity of any advice given by any "expert" in this field since many are "practising" without the necessary education, training, experience and expertise, in my opinion.
Three questions Adrian: -
1). Is your area of expertise in Electrosurgery or RF Engineering?
2). How do you assess whether an individual is an expert in a particular field?
3). Why would you wish to take on someone elses responsibilities for "life and death" decisions, as you put it, when you are not required to do so?
