had to shuffle along on slick OR floors so they didn't slip and fall.
None of that happened on that recent July day because the surgery
center had decided years ago to invest in a closed fluid waste manage-
ment system.
"I didn't think about fluid management at all," says Greg DeConciliis,
PA-C, CASC, administrator at Boston Out-Patient Surgical Suites. "We
didn't have any issues."
In that way, good fluid waste management systems are like refs at a
well-officiated basketball game: When they're doing their job, you
barely notice that they're there. There are 2 main options of closed
collection systems, and the right choice for your facility depends on
your budget and case mix (see "Time for a Fluid Waste Management
Upgrade?").
• Wall-mounted removal. Fluid- collection canisters are positioned
next to the OR table on a mobile cart. When the canisters are filled,
nurses or surgical techs roll the unit to a wall-mounted disposal sys-
tem, remove the filled canisters and place them in the system, which
automatically flush the canisters.
• Mobile collection. These mobile units have large internal reser-
voirs with the capacity to collect runoff during several fluid-heavy
cases. Staff wheel a cart into the OR and attach its ports to
arthroscopy pumps, surgical drapes or floor wicking devices. When
the cart's reservoirs are filled, staff roll the cart to a dedicated docking
station, which automatically empties the cart's contents into the
sewer system.
"We decided to invest in a mobile closed system after realizing that
the disposal costs, storage issues, staff complaints and potential for
employee injury all meant that buying a closed system was worth the
expense," says Mr. DeConciliis.
6 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 9
