Contamination of equipment in emergency settings: An exploratory study with a targeted automated intervention

To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an simple decontamination device for use with portable hospital equipment, by comparing rates of residual contamination after use of the novel device versus those seen with standard manual decontamination methods.The Self-cleaning Unit for the Decontamination of Small instruments (SUDS) is a user-friendly, automated instrument developed via multi-disciplinary collaboration for decontamination in the clinical area. Pre- and post- utilization of portable medical equipment in an emergency department (ED) setting were cultured. To evaluate durability of the decrease in antimicrobial contamination, objects were re-cultured 48 hours after SUDS cleaning and following re-introduction into the clinical setting.After manual decontamination, 25% (23/91) of the tested objects in the ED were found to be culture positive with clinically significant microorganisms(CSO). Fifteen percent (ED) of non-critical equipment tested had multiple organisms. Following the use of SUDS, the colonization rate decreased to 0%. Following SUDS treatment and re-introduction into the clinical settings, after 48 hours the contamination rates as reflected by the cultures remained 0%.Standard non-critical equipment is contaminated with clinically significant microorganisms. The SUDS device allows for effective and durable decontamination of hospital equipment of varying sizes in the clinical area without disrupting patient care.The use of disposable non-critical items has increased over the years. This practice has been driven in large part by the known risk of fomite infection transmission and a lack of reliable alternatives to standard manual decontamination. A typical disposable item is used once and then discarded, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual costs. A midsized hospital, for example, may utilize over 30,000 units of disposable pulse oximeter sensors, at $9–$15 per unit [1]. Similar costs incurred across the US for this item only