2014, Number 1
Reuse and replacement of disposable materials and equipment for inhalotherapy
Santiago-Arana C, Zalazar-Ceferino MC
Full text
Language: Spanish
References: 6
Page: 30-32
PDF size: 174.65 Kb.
ABSTRACT
Health professionals use every day to care for sick persons, several artifacts called medical devices, which are generally single use; however, rising health costs, the need to reduce costs in the acquisition of medical devices, payment for processing medical waste and environmental care, are factors that have led to the practice of reuse in the material labeled as disposable; to do this, there must be technical provisions, trained personnel, physical and functional characteristics in the reprocessing area, normed and validated processes, strict safety controls to guarantee the functionality and integrity of the medical devices, that eliminate the risk of infections or endotoxic reactions; while supporting the safety of staff, all this under a legal and ethical framework. One of the main problems that faces the reuse of medical devices is the lack of standards focused on the process that addresses us to know how and how many times it is feasible to reuse them, so efforts should be directed towards developing improvement strategies to promote standardization of the process and maintain strict control on the number of reuses and thereby ensure the integrity and sterility of the material. This information is supported with risk analysis and validation of the cleaning, disinfection and sterilization processes required by the reused disposable inhalation therapy devices.REFERENCES