3. Are your protocols up
to date?
Be sure to
periodically revisit all
protocols to make
sure that when
changes are made —
for example, a switch
to a different disin-
fectant chemical —
that they're account-
ed for and that peo-
ple are made aware of the changes. All protocols should be written and
clearly established.
4. Are your reprocessing techs properly trained? Ensure staff are well trained
and completely familiar with the instructions for reprocessing.
Manufacturers' IFU can be 100 pages long, so this is far from a trivial
point. Also, each manufacturer's instrument is slightly different, so
techs need to be familiar with the instructions for reprocessing each
specific scope.
5. Are scopes being cleaned at the point of use in the OR? This is both often
overlooked and widely underappreciated. It's an essential step, but
there's a tendency to skip it because people want to get scopes to
reprocessing as quickly as possible, and turn them over as quickly as
possible. But if any significant time elapses, material can dry on the
scope and become very difficult to remove. One of the most common
themes with contaminated scopes is that they're the result of having
placed too much emphasis on sterilization and decontamination, and
not enough on cleaning.
9 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6
• START IN THE OR Too much
emphasis on sterilization and
decontamination, and not
enough on point-of-use cleaning,
is often the culprit with
contaminated scopes.
