[Sponsored] The Only Hot Dog You’ll Want in the OR: A Signature Recipe from Augustine Surgical

Sponsored by Augustine Surgical, Inc.

While the stakes are undoubtedly higher in surgery, there are striking parallels between a high-performing kitchen and a well-run operating room. Every great chef will tell you that success relies on mise en place, having everything prepared, organized, and ready before the heat is even turned on.

In the OR, we depend on that same discipline: thoughtful setup, clear roles, and precise timing. But lately, the “kitchen” has become cluttered. In many facilities, patient warming and electrosurgical grounding exist as separate, bulky workflows, each requiring its own equipment, setup steps, and piles of disposables. It adds cost and complexity without necessarily improving the final “dish.”

For years, teams have asked, “What if grounding and warming could be combined into a single system?” Although people thought it was impossible, Augustine Surgical has done just that! With Mega Soft® pads no longer available, many facilities are re-evaluating their approach to reusable grounding. This is the perfect moment for a “recipe update” that integrates active warming and grounding into one streamlined platform.

So, put away the hoses and the single-use grounding pads. Here is our new recipe for success in the OR, designed to deliver consistent, reliable outcomes every single time.

“The modern alternative for a streamlined workflow.”

Reusable Grounding
Prep time: 2 minutes
Yield: Consistent Clinical Outcomes for thousands of Patients

INGREDIENTS:

• HotDog® Controller: The “brains” of the operation manages temperature delivery across all connected surfaces with quiet, air-free performance.
• HotDog® Mattress: The foundation, this functions as a capacitive return electrode integrated into the Mattress, simultaneously providing stable grounding and underbody conductive warming.
• HotDog® Blanket (Optional): The finishing touch, it adds overbody warming to increase total body surface area coverage, the key to maintaining normothermia ch bread or breadsticks, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the Surface: Place the HotDog Mattress directly on the OR table. Because it stays in continuous contact with the patient, warming begins immediately, no waiting for prep or draping. Early start warming significantly improves normothermia (Desai PLoS One, 2025)
2. Connect the Controller: Plug the mattress (and Blanket, if using) into the Controller. The setup remains the same whether you are warming, grounding, or doing both.
3. Enable Grounding: Skip the extra prep and disposable adhesive grounding pads. Plug the Mattress into your ESU. When the ESU is activated, current is dispersed across the large surface area. Stable grounding is provided to the patient simply by laying on the Mattress.
4. Serve with Confidence: Monitor the quiet, consistent performance while the system works in the background, allowing the OR team to focus on the procedure rather than the equipment.

Chef’s Notes

The Mega Soft Alternative: The HotDog System serves as a complete replacement for discontinued reusable pads while going further by integrating active warming.

Cost Savings: By eliminating single-use grounding pads and hoses, per-case costs become significantly lower and more predictable.

Waste Reduction: This recipe uses ingredients that are 99.99% more environmentally friendly than other substitutions; fewer disposables are opened and discarded with every case.

Consistency: Unlike traditional methods, this setup remains consistent from case to case, making training for new staff a breeze.

Reviews

“The integration of the grounding pad into the warming mattress has simplified our setup and reduced our waste by thousands of pounds.” – Operating Room Director

“We stopped throwing money away on disposables. With HotDog, we’ve saved six figures while actually improving our normothermia rates.” – OR Charge Nurse

From the Augustine Surgical Test Kitchen

Every great recipe starts with a master chef who understands the science behind the flavors. The HotDog system was developed by Dr. Scott Augustine, a world-renowned expert in patient temperature management. With a career dedicated to improving patient safety and clinical outcomes, Dr. Augustine envisioned a more efficient way to manage thermal care in the operating room.

By combining his background in medical device innovation with a commitment to simplifying complex surgical workflows, he created a “recipe” that removes the clutter of hoses and single-use disposables, allowing OR teams to focus on what matters most—the patient.

For more information, visit hotdogwarming.com.