TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE – ISSUE NO. 306

The first warm weekend of the year is an exciting moment in Michigan, especially after the winter we have had. One thing I am guilty of when we start to have nice weather is trying to fit as much as I can into a weekend. I typically envision a list of tasks that I am going to do and usually fall short of half the items that I had planned. I managed to clean up the yard, set up patio furniture and run some errands, but I wish I could have found time to hit some bike trails. Time may have not been on my side, but regardless we had a beautiful weekend. I'm sure most SPD professionals can relate to the feeling of not having enough time. Everyday you are being challenged to reprocess more and more loads of surgical instruments, but timing deadlines don't change. 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. But often this is not possible. How do you get time on your side? The Humipak™ is a one of a kind product that extends holding time for soiled instruments. It consists of a layer of highly absorbent material sandwiched between two layers of waterproof film. Testing has shown that items inside the Humipak™ will remain moist for up to 3 days. This leaves you with more time to keep instruments moist for effective cleaning.