the risk of retained items.
When Boston Children's Hospital set out to augment its manual
count process, OR nurses researched and trialed 2 sponge detection
systems: one that uses bar-coded sponges and one in which sponges
are imbedded with radiofrequency (RF) tags.
The RF system won out. Boston Children's installed wands and con-
soles in every OR, and replaced all sponges with RF-tagged sponges.
When you pass a wand-like device over the patient, an alarm sounds if
it detects the presence of an RF-tagged sponge. Nurses typically per-
form a scan after the final count and before final closure, but they can
wand a patient anytime they're concerned about manual count accu-
racy. To find a sponge that was unaccounted for, they no longer have
to X-ray patients or rummage through the trash. Boston Children's
5 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 L Y 2 0 1 7
info13@viscot.com • www.viscot.com • 800.221.0658
Viscot Communication Boards
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*The Joint Commission
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