Outpatient Surgery Magazine interviews Richard Ortiz, CRCST, senior director of central sterile processing and durable medical equipment at HSS, discussing the benefits of rigid sterilization containers and how they keep instruments sterile, safe and secure. 

Ortiz noted, “Our [HSS] surgeons specialize in a variety of orthopedic procedures, including total joints and spine, so our reprocessing techs handle a high volume of complex instrumentation. It’s important that they take every measure possible to ensure the tools are handled correctly and properly sterilized to protect our patients from harm by limiting the risks of SSIs [surgical site infections]. There is no room to cut corners.”

Ortiz continued, “Our sterile processing department is large (around 15,000 square feet) and staffed by about 75 sterile processing technicians who work three different shifts. As the volume of procedures continues to grow, our surgeons require more surgical instruments and more specialized tools than ever before. For these reasons, we rely heavily on rigid sterilization containers to keep the instruments secure and sterile. When used correctly, they benefit our department in important ways.”

Read the full article at https://www.aorn.org/