Practicum ~ Week 1 ~ Decontamination

I am going to start a new little series that I am going to update every week or so, not every day but at least once a week. This new series is all about my practicum that I am being a part of at the Hospital here in lethbridge and today's episode is....DECONTAMINATION!

The decontamination area is the area in which you clean all the instruments that have gone through the surgeries and you are just getting rid of the leftover debris that may still be on the instruments that can inhibit further cleaning processes. 

The OR or ER send down various carts in which there are planned series (we cross them off with a hot pink marker) and emergency surgeries/added that are marked by a ticket on the wall (unplanned surgeries). We then disassemble all the components of the carts (various forceps/needle holders/retractors they use etc). and soak them to get the blood and tissue off of them. Then if they are of a normal set (not complex) you would put them through the ultrasonic which provides cavitation(shaking rapidly) to get off further debris that was leftover from the initial clean and put them onto the carts to be put into the Steris systems.

Anything that is cannulated (has a hole in it) after it has been initially cleaned/soaked then must be blown through by compressed air on a white cloth to make sure that all the debris is out. Sometimes it takes a few soakings/blowing air to get all the debris out. Then what you do with the carts when they are empty is load it onto a cart wash which cleans the carts to make sure that no other debris is on there etc. 

But the hardest part is when you get ortho pans (orthopedic pans mostly knee/hip replacements). They are heavily soiled, very bloody and bone stuck in the spaces of the drill bit. Today I did my first set completely by myself and it took me about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to do because it is amazing where blood can hide in those sets! But I did it so yeah. But mainly I feel like I am beginning to become more and more comfortable. 

But from the first day it was hard because I did not have my original perceptor I was supposed to be with (she called in sick) and they had got rid of the spray arm which makes the job so much more faster than the method that I am currently used to. But since finding a method that works to have the instruments cleaned and such, it definitely got better and although there have been some things that have made some mornings quite difficult you just power through it. 

But in general that is what the first week of decontamination is like if anyone ever goes through the central processing program. It is hard, lots of moving around and the first day especially, you get pretty sickened by the amount of human debris that is leftover on the instruments(the smell gets you too.)

But that was my week in decontamination, only thing that is leftover in decontamination is to work on the specialty equipment which I am supposed to do tomorrow (if the girl that was asked remembers), and next week will be instruments!