Crnkovich, director of cen-
tral service/sterile process-
ing at Marquette University
in Milwaukee, Wis., can still
see the number 11 blade glis-
tening at the bottom of the
decontamination tray, the
elongated, triangular "pointy
dagger" ideal for stab inci-
sions still mounted to a num-
ber 7 knife handle.
"Nobody wants to touch
the tray. You're basically
reaching your hand into an
incinerator," says Ms.
Crnkovich. "You don't know
what you're going to touch.
The risk of injury is so great,
a blade sharpened along the
hypotenuse edge with a strong pointed tip making it and precise
short cuts in shallow recessed areas.
"We assume everyone is continually capable and continually
competent, but people develop bad habits and have a false confi-
dence. Technique lapses, you lose sight of safety aspects of sharps
and things happen. So many sharps incidents occur in SPD, but
people don't seem to care. We don't always think about the safety
of others."
Here's an idea to alert your sterile processing staff to the pres-
ence of sharps, courtesy of Christopher M. Lomboy, RN, BSN,
RNFA, MBA, perioperative manager at Kaiser Permanente San
4 8 • 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 2 0
• SHARP ALERT An orange safety mat alerts reprocessing techs
that sharps are in the decontamination tray.
Christopher
M.
Lomboy,
RN,
BSN,
RNFA,
MBA
