EXTENDING THE CLOCK – ISSUE NO. 253

When you live in Michigan, you tend to try to get out and do as much as you can the first weekend of nice weather. Usually, it's because you don't know if it will last or start snowing again in a few days. This past weekend was beautiful. It was great for cleaning up the yard, breaking out the bbq grill and starting to work on things outside your house that you have been waiting to do all winter. It's weekends like these that you wish you had more time to accomplish everything you set out to do, but unfortunately some things will have to wait until the next weekend of nice weather. Many Decontam professionals may feel the same way on a daily basis. The tasks for the day may become overwhelming with a short handed staff and more time is needed to get everything accomplished. Many tasks are time sensitive and prioritising becomes a key factor. Tasks like decontamination of instruments are generally recommended by instrument manufacturers, AAMI, AORN and others to begin within 30 minutes of use so that organic soils, particularly blood, do not dry. What if this isn't possible? What is the solution to extended holding time of soiled instruments? The Humipak consists of a layer of highly absorbent material sandwiched between two layers of waterproof film. To use, place individual instruments, or an entire instrument tray inside the Humipak, add the specified amount of water to the absorbent layer, and seal with the peel away adhesive strip. This creates a water tight, moist atmosphere that will prevent organics from drying over an extended period of time. Further, the transparent film allows observation of the contents and a list of contents/instructions can be written directly on the film. Testing has demonstrated that items will remain moist for up to 3 days, depending upon the type of instruments, and the exact composition of the residue. Humipaks are available in four sizes - full tray and half tray dimensions. Humipaks keep instruments moist for effective cleaning solutions.