Sterilization & Procedures

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Tube Cleaning Procedure


Tubes should be transported to the sterilization room at close and are to be left in Simple Green solution:

  1. Put on one glove, transport bio bin from station to the sterilization room counter using single gloved hand.
  2. With gloved hand, remove lid to ultrasonic, and bio bin

***MAKE SURE THERE IS MIXED ALCONOX AND SIMPLE GREEN SOLUTION IN STERILIZATION ROOM**MAKE SURE AUTOCLAVE HAS WATER***

  1. Fill ultrasonic with alconox mixture (be careful not to splash!)
  2. Place two paper towels on counter next to sink (one on top of the other)
  3. Put on apron, a pair of nitrile gloves, two sleeves (poke thumb holes through sleeves), don a second pair of nitrile gloves over sleeves
  4. Turn on heat for the ultrasonic
  5. Place tube container in sink
  6. Gather necessary cleaning equipment from drawers: pipe cleaners, qtips, allen wrenches (if using multi-piece tubes), toothbrush/steel wire brush etc.
  7. Remove ultrasonic basket and place on counter on top of paper towels
  8. Disassemble tubes using allen wrenches (if cleaning multi-piece tubes)
  9. Scrub all tube parts completely submerged in simple green solution inside container, removing all visible ink
    1. outside with toothbrush
    2. inside with pipe cleaners
  10. Rinse all pieces with water (be careful not to splash!) and place in ultrasonic basket
  11. Place basket in ultrasonic, making sure all pieces are completely covered with solution
  12. Dump simple green from tube container down sink drain, rinse the container and put on bio counter
  13. Cover ultrasonic with cellophane
  14. Place lid upside down over cellophane and run for 30 minutes
  15. Remove gloves and all other P.P.E.
  16. Wash hands, and wait for cycle to complete
  17. When cycle is complete, put on an apron, a pair of nitrile gloves, two sleeves (poke thumb holes through sleeves), don a second pair of nitrile gloves over sleeves
  18. Turn off ultrasonic heat and let cool
  19. Remove basket from ultrasonic and rinse under running water (be careful not to splash!)
  20. Place tubes on paper towel and leave to dry
  21. Drain alconox mixture from the ultrasonic
  22. Remove gloves and all other P.P.E.
  23. Wash or sanitize hands
  24. Check water level on autoclave. Fill to appropriate level if necessary

*if tubes are multi-piece follow parts A. If tubes are single-piece follow part B.

Part A:

  1. Don one glove
  2. Once tube(s)/pieces have dried, take trays out of autoclave and place on bio counter (be careful not to touch the bio counter with hands!
  3. With gloved hand, put all tube pieces on autoclave trays
  4. With gloved hand put autoclave tray into the autoclave
  5. Remove glove
  6. Sanitize hands
  7. Run an autoclave cycle for 45 minutes
  8. *be sure to log the autoclave cycle (name, date, and time at start – Temperature, pressure, and duration 20 minutes into cycle)  
  9. Don one glove, use one optim wipe to clean bio counter, tube container/lid and ultrasonic
  10. Once the autoclave cycle is complete and the pieces are dry, reassemble the tubes with a clean allen wrench in a clean area
  11. In a clean area, seal all tubes into packages with initials and date
  12. Place packages onto autoclave trays and run another autoclave cycle for 45 minutes
  13. *be sure to log the autoclave cycle (name, date, and time at start – Temperature, pressure, and duration 20 minutes into cycle)  

Part B:

  1. Pull appropriate number of packages and initial and date each
  2. Once tube(s)/pieces have dried, don two gloves, take trays out of autoclave and place on bio counter (be careful not to touch the bio counter with hands!
  3. Seal all tubes into packages
  4. Place packages onto autoclave trays then place tray(s) into autoclave
  5. Remove gloves
  6. Sanitize hands
  7. Run an autoclave cycle for 45 minutes
  8. *be sure to log the autoclave cycle (name, date, and time at start – Temperature, pressure, and duration 20 minutes into cycle)  
  9. Don one glove, use one optim wipe to clean bio counter, tube container/lid and ultrasonic
  10. Remove glove and wash hands

All:

  1. Once tubes are completely done and packages are dry, put on one glove and transport tubes from the autoclave to their designated storage area
  2. With ungloved hand grab one paper towel and transfer to gloved hand, with ungloved hand grab alcohol and douse paper towel – wipe down empty bio bin so it looks clean
  3. With ungloved hand fill tube container with simple green (be careful not to splash!)
  4. With gloved hand put lid on container then transport to appropriate station
  5. Remove glove and wash hands