A surgical assistant shall be licensed by the Board of Medicine before practicing as a surgical assistant within the District of Columbia. An individual licensed to practice as a surgical assistant, as that practice is defined in § 3-1201.02(20) shall have the authority to: Provide local infiltration or the topical application of a local anesthetic and hemostatic agents at the operative site; Incise tissues; Ligate and approximate tissues with sutures and clamps; Apply tourniquets, casts, immobilizers, and surgical dressings; Check the placement and operation of equipment; Assist in moving and positioning the patient; Assist the surgeon in draping the patient; Prepare a patient by cleaning, shaving, and sterilizing the incision area; Retract tissue and expose the operating field area during operative procedures; Place suture ligatures and clamp, tie, and clip blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry; Use cautery for hemostasis under direct supervision; Assist in closure of skin and subcutaneous tissue; Assist in the cleanup of the surgical suite; and Check and restock the surgical suite. A surgical assistant shall not: Perform any surgical procedure independently; Have prescriptive authority; or Write any progress notes or orders on hospitalized patients, except operative notes. A supervising surgeon shall perform the critical portions of a surgical procedure and shall remain immediately available in the surgical suite for delegated acts that the surgical assistant performs or to respond to any emergency. Telecommunication shall not suffice as a means for directing delegated acts. For the purposes of this section, the term “supervising surgeon” means a surgeon licensed by the Board who delegates to a licensed surgical assistant surgical assisting and oversees and accepts responsibility for the surgical assisting.
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