touching a patient and after touching patient surroundings. Following
the WHO protocols to the full extent may be difficult — or maybe
even impossible — but we want providers to wash their hands more
often.
One simple switch can help: Add a hand gel dispenser to the anes-
thesia work area. A surprising number of anesthesia providers don't
have access to hand sanitizer in their immediate workspace. Fire
codes come up from time to time as an excuse, but you can adhere to
fire codes and still have a dispenser in the anesthesia work area.
We also recommend providers double-glove during airway manage-
ment and discard the outer gloves immediately after airway manipula-
tion. As soon as possible, they should remove their inner gloves and
wash their hands.
Turnover rush
OR managers want to shorten turnover times, but there's no fast
way to clean the anesthesia workspace. The anesthesia cart is its own
beast. You set yourself up for problems if you're going into the cart's
drawers with dirty hands or you're not giving the instruments the full
disinfection they need. The computer keyboard, the monitor and
mouse, the reusable patient-monitoring equipment and blood pressure
cuffs are just a few potential hosts for microorganisms.
Look at your laryngoscopes. Are you giving the scopes the neces-
sary high-level disinfection? It's easier to clean the blades, but the han-
dles can be time-consuming. Single-use laryngoscopes have improved
over time and may be worth considering. The single-use scopes don't
pose the same concern when it comes to battery life and wear and
tear. Evaluate the time you're taking to clean reusable laryngoscopes
and the waste that comes from single-use options.
The anesthesia machine poses another turnover challenge, with its
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