Instrument Transport

[klammon]

Would any of you be willing to share your policy/procedure for transporting soiled instruments from user department other than Surgery? (i.e. Cath Lab, Emergency Dept, OB OR's, etc). I'm particularly wanting info about what kind of instrument care/prep you require before instruments are transported. Thanks so much!

[Tracy Humphreys]

In my hospital all instruments from departments other than the surgery department must be cleaned of all blood and debris then placed in a container that locks for transport down to the central sterile department. This ensures safe transport of the instruments, safety for the CS staff, and ensures that instruments will not get damaged.
Hope this helps!
Tracy B. Humphreys BS, CRCST
Manager Central Sterile
Metro Health Hospital

[SHIRLEEN VANOCKER]

Ditto what Tracy says with the exception that the user dept does not pre-clean. Instruments are placed into an enzyme solution which is in a leak proof biohazard container. SPD picks these containers up twice daily.

[davidds91]

The VA's Policy requires that the user removes "gross contamination" at point of use. Also, containers used to transport items to Central Service should not be filled with liquids for two reasons - 1) depending on the size of the containers and the instruments in them, they may be too heavy. 2) Containers such as these (even though they may seal) can very easily be dropped, break open and spill causing a huge safety issue. Also, only trained Central Service Technicians should transport items like these to the CS dept. Most clinical or ward staff have no idea how to transport them safely and frequently don't.