that's inside. If a staff member in a procedure room finds a scope
inside the container that's different than what's noted on the contain-
er, the scope must be reprocessed. If the right scope is inside, but the
transport container doesn't have green clips, or is unlocked, the scope
must be considered dirty and sent back for reprocessing.
If the container is locked with green clips, the staff member
should peel off the green sticker to reveal, underneath, a red bio-
hazard sticker. When the procedure is done and pre-cleaning is
performed, the dirty scope is placed right back in that transport
container, which already identifies it as dirty. Red biohazard
locks are affixed to the container.
There's another safeguard on the scope itself. Have reprocessing
techs attach a white "Clean" tag with the completed processing paper-
work over the scope's control head or user end port. Again, if the
paperwork doesn't have a white "Clean" tag attached, a staff member
should automatically deem the scope dirty and not for use, and send it
back to the decontamination area for reprocessing.
Hard stops
Before the procedure begins, the nurse or tech, scope and
reprocessing form in hand, should say, "I have a [type of scope]
that's been cleaned and high-level disinfected." The proceduralist
says, "I agree" (or something similar). The team confirms the scope's
model and serial number, verifying with the attached paperwork that
it has been cleaned and high-level disinfected. After agreement, the
"Clean" white tag attached to the scope is removed. In the EMR, the
nurse documents the serial number, model number and confirmation
by the team as "Ready for Use." A laminated reminder to perform
this hard stop should be posted in procedure rooms.
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