because it causes a delay in the operating room," says Ms. Chobin.
"That results in more work for your sterile processing department, as
well as frustrated surgeons and disappointed patients."
Indeed, those ill-timed rips and tears in blue wrap are one of the pri-
mary reasons many facilities opt to go with rigid containers in the first
place. "In terms of efficiency, rigid containers have two specific
advantages," says Susan Klacik, BS, CRCST, CIS, ACE, CHL, FCS, a
clinical educator with International Association of Healthcare Central
Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) in Chicago, Ill. "You don't
have torn wraps that ultimately lead to delayed surgical cases, and
you can use rigid containers repeatedly."
When tears do occur, they not only cause considerable disruption,
they also increase infection risk, adds Ms. Klacik.
3. Consistent protection
Some reprocessing professionals swear wrapping and taping instru-
ments in blue wrap is a more time-consuming process, while others
feel it takes virtually the same amount of time to load instruments
into a rigid container.
Assembly time aside, most sterile processing department leaders say
rigid containers offer a level of consistency with respect to instrument
care you can't get when staff wrap instruments in blue wrap. You can
standardize the way they're supposed to apply wrap, but individuals
will always create their own slightly different way of doing it, which
could impact the integrity of the wrap, says Ms. Klacik.
Some SPD workers still stack instruments wrapped in blue wrap,
even though the weight of those stacks can create air pockets and
cause the wrap to tear. Ultimately, stacking wrapped instruments can
compromise the instruments' sterility. Rigid containers, however, are
designed to be stacked. "Containers can help free up space because
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