There’s always been an understanding that to prevent the spread of germs, hospitals should maintain clean equipment and surfaces at all time. It’s more important now than ever to keep hospitals as sterile as possible to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. However, with supplies running low across the United States, one might be tempted to reuse medical or personal protection equipment in an effort to save costs or extend the life of their equipment. Or worse, they’ll reuse equipment without properly sterilizing it first.
Prevents Infection in Patients
Here’s some more information to help you better understand the importance of using sterile equipment and surfaces when treating patients. The number one reason why we make sure all medical equipment is sterile between one patient to the next is to prevent infections. This might seem like basic knowledge when it comes to medical equipment like scalpels or needles that actually deal with blood, or puncture skin. If these items aren’t clean, they can lead to these wounds or entry points becoming infected. But what about for equipment that’s not necessarily inserted?
Using Sterile Equipment Can Prevent the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Sure, you learn to wash your hands and wipe down surfaces to prevent the spread of flu or the common cold. But if you’re not using sterile equipment with every patient you see, you’re risking spread of infectious diseases from one patient to the next. As a lot of patients are undiagnosed or even asymptomatic at times, you never know what germs are being spread from one patient to the next. Even if they look fine, they could be carriers of a deadly germ.
Use Sterile Medical Equipment Every Time
The best defense against infectious diseases like COVID-19 is to use sterile equipment every time you see a new patient or enter a new space. While the urge to save your medical equipment might be strong, it’s vital for not only a patients health, but the health of the overall public. Once a patient leaves your practice, you don’t know who they’ll come in contact with or how far that germ will truly spread.
Lateral flow test assembly knitting is one solution to making sure that your practice always has sterile medical equipment in stock. The manufacturing process keeps a detailed inventory and will keep track of manufacturing and delivery, helping to make sure your practice is never low on supplies.