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R E P R O C E S S I N G
2 Communicate with SPD
When you're using instruments that need to be run through a rapid steam cycle, alert the sterile processing department about 10 minutes before the case ends. It's also a good idea to look over the day's surgical schedule, anticipate the instrument requirements and create a potential rapid-cycle list based on the items you've picked for cases the night before. The more notice members of your sterile processing team have, the better; they need enough time to pick up items in the OR and transport them back to reprocessing. It takes longer to send items to sterile processing — we can get small trays cleaned and back to the OR in about 35 minutes — but all patients deserve the same level of care that your first patient received.
3 Decontaminate
You must transport instruments intended for immediate-use sterilization to your sterile processing department in a closed container for proper decontamination. The decontamination process before immediate-use sterilization is the same as it is for items prepped for regular reprocessing cycles — instruments need to be disassembled and cleaned thoroughly with enzymatic detergent. We do, however, put fast-tracked instruments through a quicker cycle in our automatic washers, which shaves about 10 minutes off the cleaning time. (The faster cycle skips drying and lubrication cycles, but is validated for proper washing.)
Your surgical staff must understand that it's unacceptable to wash instruments in the OR before putting them through immediate-use cycles. The lone exception we've made to that rule occurs when one-of-a-kind instruments fall on the floor in the middle of surgery. In those instances, OR staff can clean the items with enzymatic sponges before running them through rapid-cycle sterilization for continued use during the case.
