[EMSChild]

Wow, I've never even thought about it. We use sterile disposable blades in the ER and on the ambulance. However, in the ER the OPA's lay on the most disgusting shelf. It's not so bad when their bagged but when you grab one and their in the open, you're not so sure. I have actually seen someone wipe one off, write the size on the side with a sharpie, and stick up for the next patient. So much for clean and disposable.

[TinyNurse]

ED RNs normally place them in a cidex solution so that they never leave the department............i'm sure this is for cost effectiveness......I work in a 58 bed ED.

[sequelae]

they arent necessarily have to be sterile. in an emergency, sterility will have to take a back seat or two to preserve the patient's life

[Marie_LPN, RN]

The mouth may not be sterile, but the blades still need to be sterilized, not to be kept sterile afterwards, but to go through the sterilizing process!

We wash ours with an instrument cleaning solution, scrub brushes and water first, then were sterilize them.

JACHO would be very interested to hear about that.

[Marie_LPN, RN]

I think Central Supply/Sterile Processing has an Association or Society of their own, but don't know what it's called. It probably has standards also.

They do. And i can probably dig up the literature that states how blades should be cleaned. But i'll do that later, once i get some sleep.

[Marie_LPN, RN]

Here's 2 articles to chew on:

https://www.aorn.org/journal/2005/decci.htm (scroll down)

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com...over.html.html