When you look at Youtubes or read instructions for preparing medical items for sterilization in an autoclave, most of what you see being wrapped are the usual instruments--clamps, needle drivers, forceps and the like. And this may not be necessary information for a lot of people. Hopefully our lives do not deteriorate to that degree. But you never know, and that's why we prepare.
However, even some low-level, low-tech, or daily maintenance supplies for some of us need to be sterilized. Hmmm.... Not sure that made sense. Try again.
It's not just surgeons and ER docs that need sterile supplies, but also diabetics and others whose lives depend on regular injections or the use of catheters and other items. Maybe someone in your family had some kind of traumatic injury and dressings need to be changed frequently--and you don't have an inexhaustible supply of those dressings. Needles, syringes (glass--the plastic won't hold up to the high heat of the autoclave/pressure canner), rayon gauze dressings, etc., also need to be sterilized. And if you are using a pressure canner, these supplies and instruments need to be properly wrapped. Items sterilized in an oven using dry heat are generally not wrapped because the wrappings may incinerate at oven temperatures.
In an ideal world we would have autoclave paper or sterilization pouches. They're not that expensive and you can get them on Amazon. But in an ideal world we'd also have hospitals and someone else doing this job. In an austere situation, we'll have to do with clean towels and paper or foil.
Here's what you need:
- autoclave or sterilization indicator tape (also available through Amazon)
- tightly woven towel, like a flour sack dish towel, or other fabric
- paper (parchment, kraft, newsprint) or aluminum foil
- cotton gauze
Before we start wrapping, it is important to remember to maintain the
proper balance in wrapping the items being sterilized. If the wrap is
too loose, the package will come undone. If the wrap is too tight, the
steam will not penetrate to achieve sterilization.
Gather all the supplies, including the washed and disinfected items to
be sterilized, to your work area. Lay a square of paper or foil down in
front of you in the diamond orientation--so that the bottom corner is
pointing at your belly and the top corner is pointed away from you. Lay
the towel or other fabric on top of the paper in the same diamond
orientation.
Take any sharp or pointed instruments, including hinged items, and wrap
each point (like for a pair of scissors or forceps--tweezers for us
non-medical people) or blade with a piece of sterile gauze to prevent
these items from puncturing the package. Set the wrapped item
horizontally in the center of the diamond. All hinged instruments are
to be completely open. Set those down horizontally next, but not
touching any other items. Also set down a small strip of indicator
tape. Each package will contain only a few items.
Pick up the bottom corner of the sterile towel, the one pointing at your
belly, and fold it over the instruments, almost touching the top corner
of the towel, but short by about two inches. Then fold this top corner
that is short from meeting the other corner back down halfway towards
you again.
Fold the left corner to the right corner, again leaving it short by
about two inches. Then fold that left corner back again to the left,
leaving it short from meeting the side by about one inch. Do the same
for the right side, but when the right corner gets folded back, it
overhangs the right side by about an inch.
Now pull the top corner down over the package. It may wrap to the other
side. Fasten it securely with indicator tape so that it does not come
loose while being processed. Write the date and the contents of the
package on the tape.
The sterilization tape is temperature sensitive and shows only that the
proper temperature was reached. It does not prove sterilization
actually occurred because it doesn't indicate how long that temperature
was maintained or whether it was sufficient for actual sterilization.
Some instructions you come across may state that the pressure canner
only needs to run for 15 minutes to sterilize the instruments. That
would be true if you were using autoclave paper or sterilization bags.
When using paper or foil and cloth, it takes longer for the steam to
penetrate and sterilize and will require at least 30-40 minutes.
For further information:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Wrapping-Surgical-Tools-for-the-Autoclave/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQbq4EMAmFA
https://www.research.psu.edu/arp/surgery/instrument-preparation-and-sterilization.html
21 october 2019
