POWER OUT! – ISSUE NO. 268

I was looking forward to the rainstorm we had Sunday night initially. My lawn and garden could really use the watering and its been some time since our last rainfall. My feelings quickly changed about the storm when our power went out. At first, it was fun to break out the candles and watch the storm outside the window. As time passes, you realize what inconvenience it is to not have electricity to turn on lights, use appliances, etc. Unfortunately, most of the things I was planning to do around the house will have to wait. Unexpected occurrences can happen in the decontam as well. What if you're short staffed or have an unexpected large amount of surgical instruments that come in that need to be reprocessed? Sometimes you need additional time in order to reprocess everything. Instrument manufacturers, AAMI, AORN and others generally recommend that decontamination of instruments begin within 30 minutes of use so that organic soils, particularly blood, do not dry. Often, this isn't possible. By using a Humipak™ you will extend holding time of soiled instruments because it consists of a layer of highly absorbent material sandwiched between two layers of waterproof film. To use, place individual instruments, or an entire instrument tray inside the Humipak, add the specified amount of water to the absorbent layer, and seal with the peel away adhesive strip. This creates a water tight, moist atmosphere that will prevent organics from drying over an extended period of time. Testing has demonstrated that items will remain moist for up to 3 days.