THE WORLD OF CSSD – ISSUE NO. 75

One of the benefits of working with mulit-national business partners is you have an opportunity to visit their home country and see more than just the factory - like a hospital or two (preferably not as a patient). Ray Taurasi and I had such a chance a few weeks ago visiting our Finnish partner - Wipak Medical, the producer of Steriking Peel Pouches. It's always interesting to see how CSSD's are run in other countries. Our tour began in metropolitan Helsinki, the nation's largest city and the gateway to Russia, especially during the Cold War. We visited a laundry facility that not only cleans typical hospital linens but also reprocesses surgical apparel. Our tour guide, an ex-OR Nurse provides this nugget of wisdom "our goal is to give Surgeons' and OR Nurses' a choice in apparel while providing a sustainable use of resources (the theme of our trip)." For you educators out there, the local Community College offers a special CSSD Course and technical diploma. These folks didn't just build a classroom with chairs. They included all the tools of the trade - a washer, sonic, drying cabinet, sterilizer, wraps, biological and much more.