fy that we passed the manual
clean: swab of distal tip, flush of
channel, swab of elevator. If any
of those tests don't pass, we
reclean it. In 20 months, we've
had 1 positive culture, which was
a waterborne contaminant.
We visually inspect the inside of
every GI scope with a borescope
and test for residual proteins at
the end of the manual clean using
ATP testing. We inspect the exte-
rior of a device with a magnifier.
Impact statement
If we can eliminate a surgical site
infection or an employee injury
due to our efforts, that's where
the impact is. Every member of
our C suite has been through my
department. We make them
watch how complex it is to
reprocess an endoscope, how
strenuous it is to stand over the
sink in full PPE, in the water, in
the heat, for 8 hours.
OSM
Ms. Gibbs (jgibbs@altru.org) is
the manager of the central sterile
department at Altru Health System
in Grand Forks, N.D.
