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How Do You Measure Up? - October 2013 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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OS_1310_part2_Layout 1 10/7/13 10:25 AM Page 47 A N E S T H E S I A & I N F E C T I O N S equipment that you marshal toward the patient is a potential source of pathogenic material. 5. Double glove. One of the really treacherous periods is during the initial airway manipulation. There is a real opportunity for gross contamination of the hands, with secretions that end up on your hands. Once you've finished the major portion of the airway manipulation, resist the tendency to immediately reach back and adjust the equipment. First, remove your gloves. That way you're not going to carry gross material back to the anesthesia machine. DESIGN ISSUE Stopcocks, which are the gateway to central circulation, are extremely difficult to sterilize. Impossible dream? Is it even possible for anesthesia providers to maintain aseptic environments? Anesthesia providers with little time and multiple responsibilities between cases are bound to find the prospect of trying to disinfect their workstations daunting. That person has to draw the drugs up for the new patient, see the new patient, prepare the new workstation by retrieving a new circuit and get everything else ready. I don't think I'm out on a limb when I say my guess is not everybody is as thorough as you'd like in attempting disinfecting. OSM Mr. Biddle (cbiddle@hsc.vcu.edu) is a professor and staff anesthetist at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond. O C T O B E R 2013 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E 4 7

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