velcro safety straps - ugh!

[tachy]

My OR is currently split - half of the rooms have the heavy duty rubber safety straps with the seatbelt like metal clasp (easy to clean and disinfect) but the other rooms have the straps that are the same material as a seat belt with wide portions of velcro.

The velcro straps are disgusting. I swear that whenever I utilize them I can see skin flakes and dust flying out of the velcro. I'm sure they are a major source of all kinds of nasty things. I realize that they are under the sterile drapes, but the point is they are often coming into contact with patient after patient, and there is no way they can be really cleaned.

I was just curious as to others thoughts on these safety straps and weather they utilize them or not. I also really want to go to my manager and raise my concerns, so any advice on how to best address the situation would be helpful as well.

Thanks all!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Disposables. We get a complete set of disposable bed linens etc. through this company:

Advance Medical Designs, Inc. - Infection Control Solutions for Operating Rooms

Takes care of the whole using something on more than one patient and transferring bacteria and other nasty things. We do still use regular linen sheets for some surgeries, but generally use the whole disposable kit. Ours are customized to include linens, armboard covers, safety strap, head pillow with cover, mop head, and trash bags. We also have extras of everything available, so if something happens to one of the components or we have a patient requiring multiple safety straps (some of our regional patients just don't get the idea of staying still), we don't have to open another kit.

[tachy]

Oooh disposable everything would be awesome! Yeah, we still use laundered sheets and blankets as well. Our only disposables are the sets for our open Jackson frames (chest pads, face pad, etc). I'll definitely do some asking around to see if they would consider going this route. Thank you for the link!