The Importance of Sterile Packaging Systems on the safety of the patient

The Importance of Sterile Packaging Systems on the safety of the patient

Having clean and sterilized surgical instruments are essential for the safety of patients and this is something we have discussed again and again in our blogs. It is crucial to make sure of this since it will minimize any harm caused to patients by contaminated surgical instruments and wouldn’t put the patient at risk.

No doubt, any surgical instrument can’t be sterilized if it isn’t clean. And if it isn’t clean there is no way it safe. Sterilizing the surgical instrument doesn’t ensure that it is safe to use. And risks get higher when there is contamination within the sterile packaging system before or after the sterilization.

The chances of the contamination of sterile packaging increase through rough handling or accidental dropping. It also gets contaminated if harsh contact takes place with another medical device or other packages. No matter what the cause is, there should be a fast consideration to send the instruments for reprocessing. It will ensure that there isn’t any chance of contamination left.

We will be sharing some recommendations to evaluate and use sterile packaging systems for reusable surgical instruments. These recommendations should be practiced to ensure the safety of health care staff and patients.

• Before the purchase, the staff should evaluate the packaging systems. They should ensure the quality of it and if they are suitable for their products. They must try out samples for the reusable surgical instruments to see their efficiency before purchasing them in stock.
• Packaging systems are supposed to be compatible with specific sterilization processes. And each instrument has its process. The staff should ensure that they all are compatible with each other.
• The staff must store the packaging materials with great care and process them as well. This will maintain the quality and also ensure that no damage is done to the packaging.
• The staff much assemble and wrap the package contents in a way that there is an aseptic presentation of the contents present.
• If paper-plastic pouch packages are being used then they must be used following the manufacturer’s written instructions.
• While the staff is selecting and purchasing the containment devices like organizing trays or rigid containers, they must check its design, material, and construction.
• The staff should ensure that the sterilized packages are labeled. They should be considered sterile till the event occurs that compromises the sterility of the package.
• To process the package, a chemical indicator/integrator should be placed inside each package and an external chemical indicator affixed outside each package.
  The competence of the use of sterilized packaging systems should be demonstrated.

 This checklist must be shared with the staff to help to reduce the chances of risk for patients and healthcare staff caused by contaminated reusable surgical devices. If the staff isn’t using the proper sterile reprocessing system for their reusable surgical devices then there are chances that instruments get contaminated during storage or packaging. If the safety measures are taken and followed, then it will ensure the safety of the patients and healthcare staff. The selection of the most appropriate and efficient sterile packaging is essential to ensure that reusable surgical devices and clean and sterile. This will ensure that there is no spread of germs or contamination from one device or surface to another. And therefore, it will ensure the safety of everyone else.