ANESTHESIA ALERT
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O U T P AT 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 | J U N E 2 0 1 4
things well for the other 364 days a year. Here are 20 recommenda-
tions to help assure safe medication management within your anes-
thesia practice.
1
. Organize carts for easy access.
2
. Be sure to separate look-alike and sound-alike drugs in the cart.
3
. Label all pre-drawn syringes with the industry-standard required
labeling, as enunciated by accrediting and CMS overseers.
4
. Be aware of drugs that require refrigeration and those that have a
labeled room temperature guideline, such as rocuronium and suc-
cinylcholine. Label them with their expiration dates.
5
. Remember that current guidelines say multiple-dose vials should be
dedicated to a single patient whenever possible and that they
should be discarded in patient-care areas after use.
6
. Never use single-dose vials for more than 1 patient.
7
. Be sure to discard drugs appropriately and make sure discarding of
controlled drugs is witnessed in "real time."
8
. No matter how tempting it might be to use it for multiple patients,
use each propofol vial for one patient only.
9
. Filter glass ampules with a filter needle.
10
. Make sure your cart is always secured when it's unattended. The
controlled drugs within it are the anesthesia provider's responsi-
bility.
11
. Don't unwrap syringes until you know you need them. And
unwrap them as close to the time of administration as possible.
12
. Use drawn syringes within 1 hour
(unless they've been prepared in a laminar flow hood).
13
. When you can use multiple-dose vials appropriately (see No. 5
above) note the expiration date of 28 days (see "Know When
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