Disinfectants

 Infections from pathogens being transmitted from medical instruments and equipment is a very real risk that must be dealt with very seriously. The protocols and products used must be carefully considered and selected with a full understanding of their strengths and weaknesses to keep patients safe. There's a number of medical instruments and equipment that cannot be cleaned and sterilized utilizing heat. The answer for most of these situations including most endoscopes is the use of a high-level disinfectant. You might be asking what "high-level disinfection" actually means. Well arguabl...

Well, when you first come across the word "Enzymatic Cleaners" it comes across to most as a pretty fancy word that's not exactly easy to pronounce when first read. But enzymatic cleaners are mostly used in the medical realm to decontaminate medical devices, equipment and their accessories. They are used a great deal with equipment having to do with Endoscopy procedures as the surfactants used are designed to break down and remove organic proteins from these devices after use. The enzymes in enzymatic cleaners or detergents are what actually break down the organic matter left on these medical d...

 When you're in the market for an AER often times the "little things", recurring costs like test strips and other consumables, are overlooked or at least put on the back-burner. The features an AER might offer are usually the first consideration and the price is right there with it as the price may rule out many of the options you have. But those "little things" will be what you're left with after you take the plunge on the purchase. And what if you ruled out an option based solely on the machine's price but didn't take into consideration the savings on those little things, like consumabl...

When you make your decision on which AER to purchase you might be somewhat stuck with the responsibility of using disinfectants and detergents that the manufacturer designed the Automatic Endoscopic Reprocessor to be used with. It's similar to buying a Ferrari and needing to always buy premium fuel going forward. Maybe this is not an issue for you and it's definitely not always the case. However, it something to consider. The type of disinfectants / chemicals used directly impact the reprocessing time, efficacy and the energy used to operate the equipment. There's a number of factors that dete...

So let's do a refresher on some of the recommended steps and precautions that must be followed to properly maintain and utilize an AER (Automated Endoscopic Reprocessing) machine. It may seem like a waste of time but there's some really great standards that have been set by multiple entities that can reduce your overall risk for patients of infections when operating these amazing machines. We'll start with a list of organizations who have created and established the professional guidelines for cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes. It's an industry best practice to develop your internal offi...