Medical device reuse and infection control implications

For those of you who currently work in remote, austere and resource-limited areas, you know that equipment is a luxury. You have limited kit and often limited resupply options. Sometimes, you may have to reuse medical equipment for another patient. How do you do that safely and effectively? This is the only PubMed article that I could find that discusses this issue. So, I?wrote an article?for the Journal of International Paramedic Practice that discusses this issue. You can download it from my ResearchGate page.

Ten years ago, I was working on an ambulance in South Africa when we dropped off our patient to a District Hospital, when I saw my partner start washing her intubation equipment in a sink in the hospital. She had her own bottle of Hibiclens solution that she used to scrub the laryngoscope on the bougie. She dried them and put them back into her airway role. It is not something that we see in the EU or US. But it did make sense in an environment that doesn’t have a lot of medical resupply options. It made me think about using this option for other austere environments.

The World Health Organisation has already put together publications focused on this issue. Here is a comprehensive guide that provides essential information on how to properly clean and sterilise medical equipment to ensure the safety of patients and healthcare workers. The guide covers various topics, including international standards and references, case studies, productivity management, financial management, and contingency planning. It also includes in-depth discussions on ISO standards, change management, leadership styles, and quality management.

One of the critical features of the guide is the life cycle of decontamination, which illustrates the salient features of decontamination, including risk assessment, quality assurance, and environmental cleaning. The guide also provides detailed information on the components of sterilisation validation, including audit, which is designed to demonstrate, document, and confirm that the equipment meets the performance specifications according to its specific design and technical characteristics following its installation in the place of use.

The guide also includes a section on how to unload medical equipment, which is repeated three times to ensure that the equipment is properly sterilised and safe for use. Overall, decontamination and reprocessing of medical devices for healthcare facilities is an essential resource for healthcare professionals who are responsible for cleaning and sterilising medical equipment.

The Bottom Line: Be a Better Medic. Learn to reuse some of your medical equipment whilst following evidence-based medicine.