label while the bottom label contains the biohazard symbol labeled
"dirty." When dirty, you simply remove the "clean" label by pulling
from left to right. The adhesive backing doesn't leave residue, so this
system won't increase cart or bin cleaning time, notes Ms. Perri.
5
Prevent infec-
tion during
anesthetization.
The Society for
Healthcare
Epidemiology of
America (SHEA)
recently published
expert guidance for
infection control in anesthesia workspaces (osmag.net/BFkwR2).
This guidance provides practical solutions consistent with infection
control best practices. It clarifies when hand hygiene should be per-
formed during anesthesia care, suggests wearable alcohol hand sani-
tizer to increase access for anesthesia personnel and recommends
double-gloving during airway management, says Ms. Perri.
"Double-gloving lets the provider remove the outer gloves quickly
after airway manipulation, which reduces the potential to contaminate
the environment and anesthesia work area," says Ms. Perri.
Additionally, the guidance discusses such important topics as injec-
tion safety, length of time between spiking and using IV solutions,
required personal protective equipment (PPE) for central line inser-
tion and cleaning and disinfecting high-touch anesthesia surfaces
between cases to avoid "drawer-to-arm phenomenon."
Put yourself at your anesthesia workstation, about to inject a
patient with a local anesthetic as she awaits a routine surgery. You
4 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9
• BE AWARE The risk of contamination could be higher than you think during the anes-
thetization process.
