EFHSS Questions and Answers - Answer to Question Q00557

Hospitals with high volume turn over use automated cleaning equipments for cleaning, due to high volume, certain instruments are overlooked and do come to the clean area contaminated with bioburden causing manual decontamination of the contaminated instruments often and this is dependent on the person involved in decontamination aswell as the machine involved in the process. This costly process could be avoided with innovative ideas from the soruce that is the operating room and the next step at decontamination. Can anyone suggest ideas to avoid this costly process especially during time intensive high volume turn over sitiuation's, where tons of used instruments come to decontamination piled up in one or two trays from the operating room.If you have improvised methods to deal with the above mentioned situation please suggest.

Thank you.
Devaiah

Dear Devaiah

You have in the USA 2 very good Guidances: AAMI/ANSI ST-46 for the daily, routine practice, and the QSR issued as the 21CFR Part 800.
Follow them. Adopt their approach.
some hints:
Your organisational system must accept that "Decontamination" is a process starting from the OR and ending there. Every person in this layout is a link in the chain of the Quality System. Every person must realize that human life depends on his decision. If the "positive approach" will start (by training, education) in the OR, the overload on the personal in the CSSD will decrease. Add to it good ambiant conditions (lighting, controlled climat etc. and you will find workers seeking to cooperate and initiate improvements. try it.

miki

Dear Devaiah,

miki has already giving you some very helpful advices.
When the cleaning prozess in the washer disinfector is optimized, there are nearly no contaminated medical devices any longer. That includes the use of a cleaner with high effeciency. Important is that the trays are not overloaded. Try to achieve that the personnel in the operation theatre put the instruments on the trays in correct position and open the articulated devices. Otherwise it must be done in the CSSD to achieve proper cleaning.
Do you know the brochure: Proper Maintenance of Instruments? It may give you further advices to solve your problem.

Sigrid Krueger