Instrument Protection Expert | Craig Ford

For your peel-packed instruments, it’s a journey. They may get waved goodbye from sterile processing, but they still must travel through the continuum until they are deployed onto a sterile field for use. Their longest stay is almost certainly on the shelves and in the bins of the OR Core storage areas. Here they will…

Do you read your packaging IFUs? . . . you should. Do you double peel pack? . . . you probably shouldn’t. Most surveyors will cite you for doing it if your peel pack doesn’t support it. When double packing using paper-plastic pouches, one must be mindful of the risks. Proper sizing and application of…

The first job I ever had was as a “sacker” at Gerland’s Food Fair in Deer Park, Texas. I was probably 12 years old and took a lot of pride in how I bagged groceries that came down the checkout conveyor. Back then, we used large paper bags that were folded. My job was to…

A repair-only approach to instrument repair can require a great deal of SPD time. Function testing is performed between uses to make sure the instruments in need of service are identified. Also, when the focus is only on repairing what is broken, vendors may not focus on the finish of the instrument. This could lead…

When we check into a hotel, we expect to see – and know – that everything is clean and tidy, even though it’s been used by many guests before. Peel-packed instruments go on a journey before they are eventually used for their intended purpose. Their first place of rest are the bins in the OR…

Repair programs within the surgical instrument market vary from facility to facility and repair vendor to repair vendor. Each repair vendor has a method that they will use to develop the right program for each facility they service. Regardless of the vendor or program employed, it should not be confusing or overwhelming to the SPD…

A sterile barrier system, or peel pack, is used to maintain the sterility of, and present a product to the sterile field in an aseptic manner. The pack must maintain its full integrity throughout the continuum to ensure sterility. Factors that adversely affect sterile barrier integrity are crushing, dropping, stacking, compression, tears, holes, ruptures of…

Robotic surgery is not new. We are over a decade into it being standard practice for many procedures. The technology and hardware have developed, but the principle of attaching, using, and re-sterilizing bespoke instruments has not. When the first robotic programs were being set up in hospitals, the instruments were sterilized in a tray. It…

AAMI’s ST79:2017 is full of standards and practices geared toward helping users make good decisions regarding the processing of a medical device or system. But there isn’t much mentioned about instrument protectors or products used inside a sterile barrier. With the ultimate goal of protecting the instrument and the sterile barrier, our team recommends the…