SURGICAL/CRITICAL CARE
Sharpening our focus
The sticking points of Sharps safety by Scott Tomko
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harps safety in July of 2022 is just as important as ever.
The ways and means of ensuring it are continually enhancing, and the top healthcare companies are developing the best methods to keep moving forward. However, in clinical settings, sharps inju-
ries remain far too commonplace, especially in operating Rooms (OR).
The backbone of sharps safety rests on the practice of logical methods that are still far too overlooked.
Yet, overlook them, and you could be looking at a wound on your own hands, or, by your own hands.
A brief history
In November of 2000, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act was signed into law, increasing the requirements for safer medi- cal devices, with an emphasis on sharps and needlesticks. This was done in direct response to the occupational exposure pres- ent in the healthcare industry to bloodborne pathogens.
Molly Moon, Director of Product Management for Medline Industries, states that, “sharps safety measures have increased dramati- cally since the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act in 2000. This act aims to protect healthcare work- ers from needlesticks, and therefore
Molly Moon
exposure to bloodborne pathogens through various methods including the evaluation and selection of devices with safety mechanisms, personal protective equipment (PPE), education and training, regulations around disposal practices, and recordkeeping, among others. While this act has helped move sharps safety for- ward, until there are zero accidental needle sticks there is always room for improvement.”
A sharp twist: COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has not made it any easier.
The strains of COVID-19 have taken their toll across the healthcare environment, and have had a direct, negative impact on sharps safety. In effect, the pandemic has essen- tially stagnated the progression of sharps across the industry.
Moon observes that, “our frontline work- ers were dealing with an unprecedented infection, an infl u of ery sick patients, supply shortages necessary for effective protection and treatment, and a psycho- logical strain. Because of this, proper sharps use and disposal, understandably, wasn’t everyone’s top priority at all times. The pandemic has highlighted the need for not only safe products, but for safe products that are available and intuitive for clinicians to use. If you can’t get the product or don’t know how to use it, it doesn’t matter how safe it is. This has shifted the conversation
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from not only product features, but also to product supply chain.”
According to Kelly Kramer, Marketing Director at Cincinnati Surgical, “COVID-19 has put such a strain on basic necessity items and the medical industry as a whole, it has taken away the bandwidth to trial and therefore switch to new sharps safety opportunities.”
Cincinnati Surgical has been specializing in surgi- cal blade manufacturing for more than 80 years and has come to develop a keen understanding of sharps safety in developing their products.
Kelly Kramer
“Our focus as a blade manufacturer is on sharps injuries from blades,” Kramer said. “There are two main causes of sharps inju- ries while using a blade: passing the scalpel, and removing the blade from the handle. We offer solutions for both.
Training and
adoption of these safety items are key to reducing sharps inuries. he easiest fi is to adopt the usage of blade removers and discontinue the practice of removing a blade from a scalpel handle with a hemostat. “We offer retractable safety scalpels and
a fully encapsulated blade management system that fi ts right on the handle a sur- geon is used to using”, Kramer continued. “We know that the weight and feel of an instrument are important, which is why we worked with our partner, Swann Morton,
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