Chapter 55 – Central Services

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ABSTRACT

Central services or sterile processing is the department most often responsible for reprocessing and sterilizing instrumentation and other reusable medical devices. The process involves transporting, sorting, disassembling, cleaning, inspecting, packaging, sterilizing, storing, and distributing reprocessed items. The goal is to provide safe, functional, and sterile instruments and medical devices to reduce the transmission of pathogenic organisms from patient to patient and to reduce the risk for surgical site infection. This chapter offers the infection preventionist an introduction to the numerous processes that take place in central services and provides access to resources, published guidelines, and industry standards. The chapter also offers suggested readings to expand the infection preventionist’s knowledge of current concepts and practices in the in central services and sterile processing.

Last Revised: 12/13/09 10:08 PM