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S T E R I L I Z A T I O N
Dan O'Connor
Editor-in-Chief
CONTAINMENT PANS
Transport flashed instruments from the sterilizer
to the point of use in a
sealed container that's
approved for flashing.
Lessons on
Flashing
I
mmediate-use steam sterilization (née flashing) is about as rare as
a lunar eclipse at some outpatient surgical centers. Take the Sharp
Chula Vista (Calif.) Outpatient Surgery Center, for example. This
year, they've flashed 6 times — or once every 333 or so procedures.
That was high compared to last year, when they flashed all of 4
times. "And those times when we had to do it, everybody felt bad about
it," says Manager Mindy Hoffman, RN, CNOR. "If we flashed, you can
bet it was a true emergency" — like an odd drill bit that came in from a
loaner ortho set or a retractor wing nut that fell to the floor while someone was trying to tighten it.
D E C E M B E R 2013 | 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
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