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S T A M P I N G
O U T
S S I
S
Instrument compatibility
Before you put any device into a low-temperature sterilizer, make sure
the manufacturer of that type of sterilizer has validated it. Elaine
Geroski, BSN, RN, CNOR, the director of surgical services at Garrett
County Memorial Hospital in Oakland, Md., found this out the hard —
and expensive — way. When Ms. Geroski switched from the Steris
System 1, her rep said the new tabletop sterilizer was compatible with
her flexible scopes. Not true, as she found out when the pressure in
the sterilizer ruptured a hysteroscope and a choledocoscope (the
scope manufacturer let her trade the damaged the scopes in for new
ones, she says).
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2012