The Principles of Medical Device Decontamination

5. Drying and storage Endoscopes must be used within three hours of completion of the reprocessing cycle because of the risk of bacterial growth in damp lumens. If the endoscope is not used in that time it will need to be reprocessed before reuse. However, if endoscopes are stored in drying cabinets with a constant flow of clean air through all lumens to dry them then, the time before reprocessing can be extended to 72 hours or more, dependent on manufacturers’ recommendations and validation of the drying times. Vacuum storage systems are also available for the prolonged storage of ‘wet and dry’ endoscopes, protecting them from airborne contaminants for a validated period of time depending on the manufacturers’ instructions. Additionally, this system holds the instrument securely in place and is increasingly used to safely transport instruments between remote off site decontamination facilities and the endoscopy unit.

Water Quality

Water quality is of vital importance in the decontamination process for high level disinfection processes. In order to prevent recontamination, water of the highest microbiological quality must be used in manual cleaning and when cleaning and disinfecting endoscopes in the EWD, including final rinse. Remembering that water quality is transient, services should have robust processes in place to test the quality of total viable counts and trend results. Follow an agreed process for identifying the source of high counts looking at all possible sources including the water supply, treatment plant, filters, EWD and human factors. See Chapter 6 for more information.

82

@ 2025 Central Sterilising Club. All rights reserved. Do Not duplicate