Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Running on Empty - August 2019 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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the sterilizer, and putting it in its proper place according to the manufacturer's IFU? Surveyors will review your sterilization logs. They'll ask about physical, chemi- cal and biological indicators. 5. Storage. This is a significant issue for ASCs, where space is often limited. Here are the most impor- tant things to keep in mind: • Don't store equipment near high-walkway-traffic areas where passersby could contaminate them. • Don't store equipment near air ducts where cold air will blow on it and cause condensation to form on its surfaces. • After sterilization, don't touch the instruments until they've cooled to room temperature. (Heat will wick moisture from your fingers and con- taminate the sets.) Surveyors will ask how you confirm instruments have cooled. Using a temperature gun is a good option. It's not acceptable to let instruments cool in the OR. • Storage locations should have adequate lighting. • The bottom shelf of a storage unit must be 8 inches to 10 inches off the floor, so the floor can be properly cleaned. Cover the bottom shelf with plastic lining to prevent water from splashing up when mopping the floor. All shelves should be 2 inches from any outside wall. Top shelves should be at least 18 inches from any ceiling fixture to keep sprinkler heads clear in case of a fire. • Don't crush, bend, compress or puncture any stored device. Even though manufacturers tell users to not stack products that are in blue wrap trays, many facilities do it due to a of a lack of storage space. This could compromise sterility and is never acceptable. A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 5 Inadequate inventory of instruments is not an acceptable reason to flash.

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