practice partner
Blood collection devices
• ingle use blood collection tube holders are
S
preferred.
I
• f blood tube holder must be reused, it
MUST be cleaned and disinfected after each
use.
3
Tonometers
• onometers and other ophthalmologic
T
equipment that touch the eye must undergo
high-level disinfection (e.g., glutaraldehyde)
between patient use. Cleaning with alcohol
is not sufficient.
4
Syringes and needles and use of
vials for IM/IV medications and vaccines
• ll needles are single patient use only.
A
• ll syringes are single patient use only.
A
• ingle use vials preferred – to be used once
S
only on a single patient.
• hen multi-dose vial is necessary – never
W
re-enter a vial with a used needle or used
syringe.
• nce medication is drawn up, the needle
O
should be immediately withdrawn from the
vial. A needle should never be left in a vial
to be attached to a new syringe.
5
PHO occupational
health and safety
responsibilities:
Physicians have duties
and responsibilities as
employers and supervisors under Ontario’s
Occupational Health and Safety Act to make sure workers
know about hazards and dangers by providing information, instruction and supervision on how to work safely
(e.g., appropriate handling of chemicals).
Responsibilities include:
• Ensuring provision and use of safety engineered needles
• reating workplace health and safety policies and
C
procedures (e.g., immunization policies)
• nsuring workers have access to hand hygiene prodE
uct and the right personal protective equipment (e.g.,
gowns, gloves, eye protection for endoscope cleaning)
• oing everything reasonable in the circumstances to
D
protect workers from being hurt or getting a workrelated illness
36
Sterilization logs
• terilization logs, including indicators docuS
menting successful sterilization, are required
for all office/desktop autoclaves.
• ogs must document time, temperature and
L
pressure (physical indicators) at completion
of each load.
• n external chemical indicator must be used
A
with every packaged item to indicate the
item has been sterilized.
• n internal chemical indicator must be
A
placed inside every packaged item to be
sterilized.
• aily testing of biological indicator (BI) is
D
required when a sterilizer is in use.
S
• COPE disinfection and sterilization logs
must be kept, including test strip monitoring, concentration and exposure time, and
disinfectant temperature for automated
endoscope reprocessors (AER).
While PHO advises that the above-noted
practices are of the highest risk for the transmission of infection in a clinical office setting,
these are not the only ones. The CPSO and
PHO encourage physicians working in clinical office practices to review the additional
guidance and evidence that is available in the
library of documents created by Provincial
Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee
(PIDAC).