OR Manager - June 2020 - 28

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At a Glance
Surgeons help stretch use of
N95 masks
In this study from BJC HealthCare and
Washington University School of Medicine,
St Louis, a multidisciplinary team that included
surgeons created a new process
for disinfecting and reusing N95 masks,
using vaporized hydrogen peroxide.
The process allows healthcare workers
(HCW) to reuse masks up to 20 cycles,
and it has an identification system that enables
the hospital to return the sanitized
mask to the same HCW each time.
The disinfection process begins at
the end of a shift:
* HCWs remove their N95 masks in
the unit's soiled utility room and
place them in sterilization pouches
made of breathable polyethylene
fiber on one side.
* On the other side of the sealed
pouches, the HCWs write their
names or employee ID numbers,
hospital, department, and unit location,
and they place the pouches in
a soiled collection bin.
* A designated worker wearing proper
protection collects the bins twice
daily and takes them to a specially
designed and sealed disinfection
room that was built in 4 days using
a vacant conference room.
* In the room, the pouches are arranged,
breathable side up, by clinical
unit on wire racks.
* A hydrogen peroxide vapor gener28
OR
Manager | June 2020
ator, which Washington University
already owned to decontaminate
equipment, fills the room with the
chemical.
* After 4.5 hours, a worker moves the
rack of masks to another area that
has a fan to offgas the hydrogen
peroxide, and where the masks stay
until sensors record a zero reading.
* The pouches are returned to their
units in a decontaminated bin, finishing
the process that takes about
7 hours.
Currently they are disinfecting 240
N95 masks per day, and they can disinfect
1,500 masks per day. They also
have built another disinfection room.
-Grossman J, Pierce A, Mody J. J Am Coll
Surg. Published online April 27, 2020.
Predictor for decline in critically
ill COVID-19 patients
Epic's deterioration index, an artificial
intelligence (AI), machine learning-based
system that can predict which patients
with COVID-19 could become seriously
ill, has been put into use at hospitals
nationwide, the April 24 STAT reports.
Ordinarily, it would take weeks or
months to test a new tool on hundreds
of patients and refine the algorithm,
but the COVID-19 pandemic forces clinicians
to work with the numbers they
have and err on the side of patient care.
For patients likely to decline, researchers
say the system can give
them up to 40 hours of warning before
a life-threatening event occurs.
-h t t p s ://www. s t a t n ews . c om/
2020/04/24/coronavirus-hospitals-useai-to-predict-patient-decline-before-knowing-it-works/.
Joint
Commission backs universal
masking recommendations
The Joint Commission on April 23 announced
that it supports the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's new
recommendations that healthcare facilities
" . . . implement source control for
everyone entering a healthcare facility
(eg, healthcare personnel, patients, visitors),
regardless of symptoms . . . "
Source control involves having individuals
wear cloth face coverings
or facemasks over their mouths and
noses to contain respiratory secretions
and reduce the dispersion of droplets
from an infected individual.
The Joint Commission says it believes
universal masking in healthcare
settings is a critical tool to protect staff
and patients from becoming infected
with COVID-19 by asymptomatic and
presymptomatic individuals and should
be implemented in any community
where COVID-19 is occurring.
-https://www.jointcommission.org/-/
media/tjc/documents/resources/patient-safety-topics/infection-preventionand-hai/covid19/universal-maskingstatement-04232020.pdf.
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OR Manager - June 2020

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