Judgement Day Flashcards
What are AWD
automatic washer disinfector
What is the legal requirement
for us to operate a WD and process our contaminated instruments through one
What i the chamber
background where process takes places
What is the load carrier
where we position our instruments
What are the pros and cons of manually washing instruments
there is potential for human error
there can be a variance of efficacy depending on the oerpator - if u have different individuals carrying out processes, you may not all be doing it the same way
they do have a significantly larger mechanical force but that means u need to have an operator manually cleaning
What are the 5 core stages
flush/prewash main wash rinse thermal disinfection drying
What is the flush/prewatch
this stage saturates the contaminated instrumentation
What is the main wash
this stage is supplemented by detergent to more effetely remove contamination
What is the rinse
this stage removes any remaining reside, biological or chemical before disinfection
What is the thermal disinfection
this stage is actively killing microorganisms with the use of heated water
What is the drying
this stage removes any remaining moisture from the instruments before sterilization
What is the sump
there is fresh water used for each individual stage that fills the sump and is then circulated throughout the chamber
What may be an additional stage
enzyme wash where there is use of different chemicals alongside main wash detergent
Why is the flush/prewash, main wash rinse so important
more contamination is removed from the surface of the instruments and removed from the machine with the water changes
this is our only opportunity to remove proteins or prions
they must be removed during the wash stages
Why is this stage the only opportunity to remove proteins or prions
they cannot be deactivated through disinfection or sterilization
high temperatures can make them adhere to the surface of instruments making them difficult to remove
they can survive higher temperatures for longer periods of time than temperatures and times of standard sterilization processes
they would also be removed if we were manually washing
Describe the temperature for the flush/prewash stage
less than 25 degrees in relation to coagulation of proteins as breaching this will cause them to coagulate
What is the temperature for the main wash
temperature dependent on the chemical used for process
What is the temperature for the rinse
less than <65 degrees
What is the temperature for the thermal disinfection
must be between 90-95 degrees for minimum of 1 minute
What is the temperature for the drying stage
no specified temp but generally 90-110
How are these temperatures and times decided
stage times, chemical volume and ash temperatures are established during the validation of the equipment by a competent person
Who is the competent person
someone who is occupationally capable of carrying out this work to a standard that is required
for chemicals, the expected temp will be stated on the bottle and the engineer would decide on the temperature and then start to operate the cycle at that point to establish how well it is removing the contamination from the surface of instruments
What stage’s temp never changes
thermal disinfection stage
What is the first step in the decontamination process
use of WD
