Decontamination: Operator Level and Process Overview Flashcards
(121 cards)
processing
- refers to how we manage the journey of our RMD’s after they have been used for a procedure and have been contaminated
- must use a series of automated and manual processes to remove all of the contamination from the surface of the instruments and then sterilise them to ensure we have made them safe to be reused on other pts
- there are established and agreed procedures for ‘processing’ instrumentation in a way that achieves the globally recognised set-points and stages
RMD’s
reusable medical devices
- not all equipment used in a procedural environment is reusable
- large proportion is single use and must be disposed of using the correct waste streams
- instrumentation that is our responsibility to process correctly in line with guidance and standards nationally agreed
conditions to met on cleanliness, disinfection and sterilisation of RMDs
conditions required to meet cleanliness, disinfection and sterilisation are globally recognised
- use guidance documents as resources to identify them
- reference standards and legislation which is relative to the area in which you work
guidance
- series of documents available – SHTM’s (Scottish Health Technical Memorandum)
- documents vary depending on the region you work within the UK
- other local procedures will have been agreed out-with the UK and Europe so familiarise yourself with local guidance
- offer advice and direction on what standard must be achieved in relation to any piece of equipment we purchase, install and operate
standards
refers to the British and Europeans Standards (BS EN)
- agreed through a collaboration between Scientific, Engineering and Healthcare Professionals
- spanning decades
- framework for how every piece of equipment should be operated, the parameters that it must work within and the standard in which it is produced to
BSEN documents are extensive and highly technical with a far reaching ranfe
- Cover everything from the manufacturing of equipment, the installation of it, the services it requires to operate, the conditions it should be able to achieve, how we should test its operation and validate it for usage
legislation
- Legal requirement to achieve all locally agreed standards and operate your facility, and every piece of equipment within it, in line with all recommendations and obligations
- Practices receive a CPI (Combine Practice Inspection) on a periodic basis
- Trained professionals verify you are operating a sufficient and effective process
services
- Things that your equipment needs to operate correctly
- such as hot or cold water, purified water, drainage connections, steam connections and electricity
validate/ equipment validation
- before we start to use a medical device to carry out our day-to-day production work, it must be validated to ensure it is working properly
- extensive engineering work that tests all components of the machine to verify their correct operation
- all incoming supplies are available and suitably matched to the machine requirements
- test the actual operation of the machine, check loading patterns for instruments and cycle programming along with temperature set-points and other critical data
- extensive engineering work that tests all components of the machine to verify their correct operation
LDU
local decontamination unit

GDH&S LDU
used instrumentation goes
on entering LDU must set instruments down in an established area
- depending on size of unit you may have a separate set down area or might be the same as the established unload area

suitable transportation containers must (3)
- rigid, durable, leak proof containers
- tight fitting lid
- easily cleaned and disinfected
containers must also be easily distinguishable from each other (generally colour coded) so that they cannot be mixed up

Personal protective equipment PPE
- consumable items that we use to protect ourselves and everyone else from the infectious substances that we encounter within a decontamination environment
follow ‘donning’ and ‘doffing’ recommendations
donning PPE
hand hygiene
gown/apron
mask
visor/eye protection
gloves
doffing PPE
gloves
eye protection/visor
mask
apron/gown
hand hygiene
gloves
prevent infectious substances adhering to our hands
gown or apron
protect ourselces from splashes and contamination
face visor
prevent contamination being splashed into our eyes and face
heavy duty rubber gloves when manually washing instrumentation
protect against sharp injuries
hand hygiene
- essential to carry out sufficient hand hygiene on entering and leaving the decontamination environment
- if operating a single room facility, we should also carry out hand hygiene procedures during clean and dirty steps of the process
hang hygiene + PPE donned
working in a safe manner
processing cycle of RMDs
- red tab is the beginning of the process where we either introduce newly acquired instrumentation into our cycle or start processing instrumentation we already have in use

what stages take place in AWD
cleaning and disinfection (1 and 2)

AWD
automated washer disinfector
cleaning
- Remove any biological matter, bodily fluids, proteins (with specific relation to prion vCJD) or infectious substances and also reduce the amount of microbial presence













