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departed. The CDC also found that the virus can travel 13 feet through the air and is transported on shoes.” “To mitigate COVID-19 risks, healthcare organizations should rely on updated guidance and adapt policies and procedures ac- cordingly,” Shimkin added. “Staff should also be given adequate resources including protective equipment, as well as time to manage any increased demand for supplies and devices while reducing the chance for errors.” To address the potential risks of COVID-19 when engaging in offsite instrument reprocessing, Coss recommends healthcare facilities conduct a risk assessment with their infection preven- tion teams, follow policies and procedures for transport of soiled instrumentation, follow standard precautions, maintain U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules and regula- tions for transportation of soiled instrumentation, and create the most direct path to get the instrumentation from point of use to processing.
“The possible danger in transporting instruments with CO- VID-19 is the novel virus can live in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for as long as two to three days,” said Coss. “Careful handing and care of any soiled equipment must be meticulously followed to avoid risk of infection.” Another potential issue related to transport is lost or dam- aged instruments. Mike Cowan, Inside Sales Specialist, Scanlan
International, recommends that healthcare facilities utilize the same policies and procedures they would have if they were processing instruments and devices onsite.
“As with any process which is new, there is a danger in not following policies and procedures,” said Cowan. “There is also the possibility that things can get lost or damaged in transport. Keep everything organized and use communication tools to ac- curately label and list what is in your sets/equipment and how they should be processed. Scanlan International’s Easy-Tag can be a great communication tool for this.” “Keeping your instrument sets wrapped after sterilization and transporting them with our Tip-Guards to protect instrumenta- tion can be one way to make sure that your instruments remain sterile and protected as they move locations,” Cowan added.
Assess staff safety
“Without question, transporting surgical instruments generates concerns of cross-contamination and magnifies the high priority of staff and patient safety,” said Andy Petrovich, President & CEO, Petriss. “Healthcare facilities need to consider the impor- tance of training and developing a plan for all distribution staff, drivers and receiving personnel to assure safety for their staffing and others. Proper planning, training and quality assurance (QA) monitoring should not be taken lightly. Once contaminated items
Tips for offsite reprocessing and COVID-19 considerations Daniel Lartey, System Director of SPD, LeeSar, offers the following best practices for offsite reprocessing.
• Transportation: It is of paramount importance that SPDs, including offsite campuses, adhere to the Principles of Asepsis to ensure that clean items are kept separate from dirty items when collect- ing and transporting to clinical staff. Regulations from the Department of Transportation (DOT) at local, state and federal levels must be followed. Transportation carts should effectively contain bioburden, prevent items from falling or getting damaged, and prevent cross contamination.
• Environmental risks: Temperature, humidity and air pressure of the vehicles and the building should be monitored and recorded, and any deviations should be remedied immediately. Walls and floors must be constructed using the right materials, to withstand daily scrubbing with chemical agents to prevent infections.
• Pre-treating of surgical instruments: All stakeholders, especially the clinical teams, must be incorporated in instrument care by providing point-of-use instrument cleaning per manufactur- ers’ instructions. Additional enzymatic moisturizing spray should be applied to ensure bioburden does not dry.
• Industry standards and IFUs: Consult documents such as ANSI/AAMI ST79, ST 91, the facility’s policies and procedures, and more importantly, the manufacturers’ instructions for use (IFU). Educate and train associates to ensure competencies. With regards to special considerations related to COVID-19, Lartey comments on LeeSar’s approach: “The day-to-day operations of any sterile processing department is char-
acterized by the possible exposure to pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, virus, etc. Because we follow universal and standard precaution to treat reusable medical devices as potential sources of transmission, any outbreak including COVID-19 should have a minimal effect on daily operations.”
26 June 2020 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
During the current pandemic, Lartey says the following mitigation measures must be strictly re-echoed, refreshed and emphasized: • Follow CDC standard precautions: Every associate needs to observe the standard precautions of distancing whenever possible, hand washing, masks, self-quarantine etc. as directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Allocate resources: Resources, both human and time, are provided to properly reprocess medical devices.
• Take time to train: Task-specific training, including implementing re- fresher training to reinforce procedures and making sure manufacturers’ IFUs are organized.
• Adhere to industry guidelines: Follow OSHA, DOT, infection prevention and control measures and organizational policies and guidelines in the handling and transporting of soiled and sterile instruments.
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