tive pressure room, so
the facility doesn't
contaminate any other
clinical areas. Staff
members who work in
the room don full
PPE. Contaminated
masks are sorted and
hung individually by
paperclips on three-
by-five-foot racks that
hold up to 250 masks.
The racks are wheeled into a room where a hydrogen peroxide
machine sits ready for use. After the room is completely sealed off,
the masks are treated with hydrogen peroxide mist for 25 to 30 min-
utes. The room is then degassed and aerated.
"We put a load stick on every bag of reprocessed masks that
includes the date it was sterilized and the load it was in," says Ms.
Havill. "We keep track of every load in the event there was a need to
recall any respirators." Yale New Haven Health has safely reprocessed
more than 20,000 respirators, according to Ms. Havill.
Cleaning the OR air
Effectively treating OR surfaces and even staff footwear with UV-C
light has traditionally garnered the lion's share of attention when it
comes to infection prevention technology. Many facilities are now
looking to technologies that address another problem area: the OR
air.
COVID-19 has only increased growing interest in air purification
technologies. For instance, Twin Cities Orthopedics (TCO), an ortho-
5 4 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 2 0
Kate
Johnston/St.
Francis
Hospital
EXTRA EFFORT Current evidence suggests nasal decolonization should be a stan-
dard treatment for all patients.
