CS CONNECTION Clearing the air on scope hang times W
hether you’re involved in an athletic competition, business project, chari- table event, clinical procedure, finan-
cial exercise or operational task, including sterile processing, supply chain or surgical workflow, the mantra remains the same: Start fresh; work accurately, effectively and efficiently and of course, finish strong. In the reprocessing of endoscopes and
other endoscopic equipment, crossing the finish line typically translates to aerating, drying and storing sterile devices so they’re ready for use in the surgical suite. Because these last steps before transport- ing the sterile devices to the operating room remains so important, Healthcare Purchas- ing News asked more than a dozen sterile processing subject matter experts for useful tips on completing these last tasks properly. eres what they shared.
Christian Escobar, Ambu
“Ensuring the staff and facility have adequate storage and reprocessing space is critical. ospitals can invest in large- scale, specially designed storage areas. Additionally, hospitals can evaluate using sterile, single-use endoscopes for proce- dures – freeing up or reducing demand for space in SPD or point-of-care to store ecessive volumes of eible endoscopes. ne benefit of the single-use endoscope is the ability to reclaim crowded, valu- able hospital space for more efficient use. ingle-use devices also eliminate the potential for cross-contamination when properly utilized.
Betty McGinty, Boston Scientific Corp.
• “Use external drying devices post-endo- scope removal from the .
• “Drying cabinets offer a drying option for endoscopes both eternally and internally.
• “Existing conventional cabinets may be retrofitted with cabinet filters as well as channel drying hook-ups.
Minerva Loran, Clinical Choice LLC
“Effective aeration of an endoscope is best achieved by a system that connects to the Air/Water, Suction and Auxiliary Chan- nels. ndoscopes can be aerated prior to or during storage. heck with your aeration or endoscope cabinet company as to their recommended aeration times. “Look for endoscope storage cabinets that meet current and future society guidelines. abinets with significant -filtered air ow, removable drip trays and abilities to upgrade the cradles
Photos courtesy: Healthmark Industries Natalie Reece, Key Surgical
“Store endoscopes in an automated drying cabinet. esearch has shown that storage using an automated drying cabinet, which allows each channel to be connected to a constant flow of filtered, compressed air along with circulating air to enhance surface drying, is the best for eradicating moisture. (Perumpail et al. “Endoscope reprocessing: Com- parison of drying effectiveness and microbial levels with an automated drying and storage cabinet ith forced filtered air and a standard storage cabinet.” AJIC 2019)
“Dry endoscopes for a minimum of 10 min-
utes using forced, -filtered air. If your facility does not have access to automated drying cabinets, and you use vertical hang- ing to store, manually drying your scope for about 10 minutes before hanging is the mini-
42 November 2020 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
and drying system will protect your endo- scopes and your capital investment.
Seth Hendee, Healthmark Industries Co.
• “Allow and take time for thorough and proper drying. he drying cycle of many s and simple alcohol ushes do not produce completely dry endoscopes for use or for storage.
Invest in air. hether that is adustable instrument air at a workstation or filtered forced-air drying cabinets. oth will pro- duce far better results than syringe ushing or hang drying. oth of which have been proven far less effective than their forced air alternatives.
• “Understand drying’s importance to the process. he wet environment inside of an improperly dried endoscope is the perfect breeding ground for water-loving bacteria. horoughly drying endoscopes between uses and before storage will remove that risk from the process.
Bad scope hanging vs. good
mum required for eradicating potentially dangerous residual moisture. (Barakat, et Al., “Comparison of automated and manual drying in the elimination of residual endoscope working channel uid after reprocessing astroinstest Endosc 2019)
“Conduct a risk assessment at your facil- ity to determine a safe/proper storage time between reprocessing. ssuming that high- level disinfection/sterilization has occurred according to the manufacturer’s instructions for use (IFU), and that the scopes are stored in a closed environment with all of the valves and accessories removed, we see a mix of recommendations for how long until the scopes need to be reprocessed again. he Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) suggests a hang time of seven days, and after that seventh day the scope should be reprocessed. he multi-society guideline published in suggests that reprocessing within days is safe. supports a seven-day storage window as well. and AAMI both agree, but give a vague recommendation that each facility perform a risk assessment to determine proper storage time. “If you have an automated dry- ing cabinet that forces a constant ow of air through your scope, you may be able to extend the time up to 30 days or however long the IU calls for. he lack of clarity between the standards is a huge concern because if you are hanging your scopes, there will absolutely be residual moisture left over. ather up your facil- ity’s key players (clinicians who
perform endoscopy, reprocessing personnel, infection preventionists, quality/risk man- agement team and administration. est how many of your ‘patient-ready’ scopes have microbial contamination. est for residual moisture in your scopes. valuate the real cost of resources and personnel it takes to adequately manually dry and endoscope, or the real cost of constant reprocessing due to short hang times.
Melissa Kubach, Mobile Instrument Service & Repair
“If the facility does not have internal channel drying capabilities within their cabinet, they could utilize a drying box unit to facilitate drying prior to storage. abinet upgrade retrofits are available for multiple manufacturers’ existing cabinets to add aeration and drying capabilities.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66
