5
Stay engaged
Here are a few other updated
recommendations your
reprocessors should follow.
• Keep scopes clean and dry.
Once you've meticulously cleaned
your scopes, flush them with instru-
ment air until they're bone dry.
Instrument air is defined by the
National Fire Protection Agency as
a medical gas that is not respired, is
filtered to 0.01 micron, is free of liq-
uids and hydrocarbon vapors, and
is dry to a dew point of -40º F.
Clean, filtered air under pressure is
necessary for drying lumens and
small channels of flexible endo-
scopes without introducing contam-
inants into the clean device.
• Implement a maintenance
schedule. Assign a multidiscipli-
nary team to work with your scope manufacturer's service representa-
tives to determine preventative maintenance schedules for scopes,
mechanical processors and other equipment used for reprocessing.
This schedule should align with the equipment's IFUs, but should also
take into account factors unique to your facility, such as the types and
volume of procedures you perform. This new recommendation helps
ensure the scopes are in the best possible condition before use, which
may also make them easier to clean.
• Regular education and competency verification. You should be pro-
1 1 0 • 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 U N E 2 0 1 6
• SAFER STORAGE Instead of the previous recommenda-
tion of 5 days, AORN now says you can store scopes for a
period of time determined by your facility's experts.
