staff member has to do is
place the manually cleaned
instrument tray on the rack,
and the washer will do the
rest.
This conveyer system not
only frees up staff to focus on
other tasks, but it also can
extend the life of your equip-
ment. How? When I worked
in sterile processing depart-
ments, there were washers I
favored over others. By
automating the process, the
instrument rack is systemati-
cally pulled into the next
available washer, meaning they get equal use, which will cut down on
the wear of the equipment.
When the washing cycle is finished, the washer pushes the racks out
and onto a conveyor belt on the assembly side of the department. A
staff member there can simply pick up the sets and place them onto
their workstation before beginning to inspect and reassemble them. A
similar principle applies here, with the double-sided sterilizers pulling
in the carts, shutting the door, running the cycle and opening on the
other side where the instruments are cooled and ready to be placed
into storage.
As you can imagine, these types of systems can really help with pro-
ductivity and throughput. Techs are free to perform their jobs more
thoroughly when automated systems are in place. Often techs are too
overwhelmed to focus on processes like manual cleaning or proper
2 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 2 0
• EASY DOES IT Automated washers and sterilizers lessen the physi-
cal strain for reprocessing techs.
