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It's not to protect the patient (well also that), it's to protect the doctors. My granddad was a medical student back when they still reused syringes. That ga
by Svip 7y ago
It's not to protect the patient (well also that), it's to protect the doctors. My granddad was a medical student back when they still reused syringes. That gave him a liver infection, so he could not donate blood his entire life.
One doctor can save numerous lives. Putting one out of commission is a huge blow in a crisis.
- wwweston 7y agoI agree with the values you're describing here, but it's still not clear to me that a re-use workflow needs to be that different from single-use. Presumably the single-use involves tossing used pieces into a biohazard disposal container to be removed later. What's the issue with tossing the same material into a biohazard container of things to be solution-rinsed autoclaved and/or UVd the hell out of, then maybe wrapped or banded so that it's clear they're clean? Maybe it's a labor/scale issue?
- Svip 7y agoLabour/scale, indeed. The facilities where these things are usually produced have the capacity to make sure they are sterile. Hospitals cannot sterilise items to the same scale. You just need to be careless once for it to be a problem. And considering how many sterile items you need to use every day - particularly in an emergency - it is not unlikely that one item went back into the reuse cycle without being sterilised. It's to avoid the question, 'was this item sterilised?' If its wrapper is open, assume it is used. You can only do that safely with single-use items.
- richmarr 7y ago> If its wrapper is open, assume it is used. You can only do that safely with single-use items. How about putting the re-usable item in a wrapper so that the same rule can apply.
- killjoywashere 7y agoAll surgical steel is reused exactly this way. There are plenty of plastics that get autoclaved as well.
- Entalpi 7y agoExcept that sterilised items usually are repackaged in some way that removes this doubt. I have seen many different techniques for this kind of workflow.
- raverbashing 7y agoYeah. For example, thinking about needles and syringes, they used to be disinfected by boiling water. That's certainly not enough to kill all existing pathogens especially after you used it in a person. You probably need to autoclave the parts, and then some more to be sure.
- pvaldes 7y agoThis would be ok some decades ago. Now we know that prions can survive
- raverbashing 7y agoAutoclaving is hard but it seems to be doable for Prions https://consteril.com/prion-sterilization-guide/ https://consteril.com/prion-sterilization-guide/ Simple boiling won't do much even for viruses