What Goes on Behind the Scenes in Sterile Processing... A Holiday Miracle in the OR

What Goes on Behind the Scenes in Sterile Processing... A Holiday Miracle in the OR

After a Level 1 emergency call, things got crazy at Starlight Medical Center on Christmas Eve. It was quiet and snowy. A young boy was rushed to the emergency room after getting hurt while sliding. The surgeons got ready for an emergency spinal surgery. Their success depended on the careful work and commitment of the Sterile Processing Department (SPD), a group that is often overlooked.

The request was immediately sent to the SPD leadership via a phone call to Bob, the charge person on the day shift. A specific set of spinal instruments with unique instrumentation was needed for the surgery, but the tray had just come back from another case and was still being processed. Time was running out. Each step had to be done perfectly, with no room for mistakes.

Decontamination: Where to Begin

Bob, a new SPD worker, but through his dedication has recently been put in charge due to staff shortages was trained by Global Instrument Management Solutions (GIMS). Wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE), he carefully moved the dirty instruments to the area where they could be reprocessed immediately.

Bob followed a strict process to break down organic matter on the instruments through the enzymatic solution prepared in the second sink after the initial rinse in the first sink of the three-sink set up between 90 and 120F for 1-5 minutes ahead of time with treated water rinse to ensure the endotoxins and remaining residue was removed before mechanical cleaning.

Performing to-and-fro brushing motions in complicated areas by hand to ensure no blood or tissue waste was left behind.

As the instruments were being cleaned and disinfected, they were moved to the ultrasonic cleaner after the three-sink cleaning process was accomplished to ensure the cavitation process did its job before being put through a washer-disinfector that used high-pressure spray jets of detergent and thermal disinfection was carried out.

Bob carefully examined each instrument in bright light, using a magnifying glass to ensure its cleanliness. Not finding even a tiny piece of debris could put the patient's life at risk.

Precision and Accuracy in Assembly

Bob moved the instruments to the area where they would be put together after cleaning and drying. He then proceeded to scan the barcode tray tag to receive the count sheet/recipe. He put the instruments on a clean surface one at a time, making sure that instruments with hinges moved easily.

Cutting instruments, such as cutters and rongeurs, were all tested with index cards to ensure their smooth functionality.

It was clear where all the screws and small parts were.

Bob carefully put the instruments in their correct places on the tray using his training. A misaligned instrument could cause complications with the case, which is not what either department wants.

Getting rid of all microbes through sterilization

A surgical-grade wrap of of KC series 600 45X45 was used to seal the 22 pound tray, and it was then put into the steam sterilizer, which uses forced steam to kill microbes. Bob set the settings for the cycle based on the spinal instruments' tray and instructions:

270°F.

4-minute exposure.

27 psi of pressure.

45 minutes of dry time

Bob carefully watched the cycle start as the sterilizer hummed to life. About 65 minutes later, after he had taken care of other needs, he removed the spinal tray from the sterilizer, removed the receipt, checked the parameters to ensure everything was met according to the cycle, signed the receipt, and scanned the reciept into their tracking system, along with implanting the 24 minute biological to test against the gram-positive rod-shaped Geobacillus Stearothermohilus spore

Getting to the operating room

After making sure the tray was germ-free, Lisa carefully labeled it and put it into the hospital's tracking system. Then, a passing nurse rushed it to the operating room. The surgical team took the tray out of the box and got ready for the treatment that would save the boy's life.

The lead surgeon, Dr. Jones, praised the SPD's work in the operating room. "Every instrument is just the way we need it—put together and ready to go," he told the OR team."

The Holiday Heroes You Can Trust

The boy's family hugged Dr. Jones after the surgery was over, thankful that the team had saved their son's life. At the same time, Bob and his SPD coworkers returned to their work in silence. They knew that the OR and every patient counted on their diligence, resourcefulness, and technical aptitude to make programmed and non-programmed decisions to ensure the right instruments were being reprocessed at the right time and right route, so they started getting ready for the next case right away.

Bob felt so proud of himself as he walked outside that night, with soft snow falling all around him. Global Instrument Management Solutions had trained him for times like this when every detail was important, and people's lives relied on his work.

The bright light in the SPD window was a sign of hope and success. The best gift on Christmas Eve wasn't under the tree; it was the quiet, never-ending work of the clean processing team making sure every surgery went well and safely.

Bob believed the holidays were a time to embody the highest virtues: unwavering diligence, the honor of keeping promises, and the profound teamwork that makes saving lives possible through instrumentation.

The End