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How can you improve the odds
that high-level disinfection will
keep your facility outbreak-free,
at least until sterilization
becomes standard practice?
These are the primary areas of
concern, says Cori Ofstead,
MSPH, president and CEO of
healthcare research firm Ofstead
& Associates in St. Paul, Minn.:
• unrecognized damaged scopes;
• defoaming agents and lubricants that harbor biofilm and that
can't be removed from scope;
• relying on automated endoscope reprocessors to clean dirty
endoscopes (scopes not pre-cleaned in the OR);
• rinsing scopes with contaminated water (for example, from
poorly maintained or dirty tubing, or from inadequate water-fil-
tration-system maintenance);
• failing to dry endoscopes;
• storing endoscopes in unventilated storage cabinets;
• using bare hands and/or dirty containers to transport endo-
scopes;
• neglecting to clean, disinfect, and perform preventive mainte-
nance on reprocessing equipment; and
• inadequate monitoring of reprocessing effectiveness.
— Jim Burger
• NOT THEIR JOB Automated endoscope reprocessors
won't adequately disinfect if you don't pre-clean dirty
endoscopes in the OR.
CAUTION SIGNS
9 Problems That Could Lead to Outbreaks in Your Facility
