Surgical Products - January/February 2018

equipment needs to be able to achieve that.

2. Specifications provided by AORN and AAMI are recommendations for clinical practice and are not the same as design specifications.

Concern then is that reviewers were evaluating and citing the design specifications of HVAC systems to AORN/AAMI practice recommendations and not to the design specifications.

With the publication in 2017 of the
updated version of AAMI/ANSI ST79:
Comprehensive Guide to Steam
Sterilization and Sterility Assurance
in Health Care Facilities, the AAMI
Sterilization Standards Committee
took a different tack. Rather than
make specific recommendations for
temperature and humidity conditions in
decontamination areas, ST79 directs
the reader to the ASHRAE/ASHE
design specifications document.

Recognizing the unique challenges of achieving and maintaining a comfortable core body temperature in decontamination areas, ST79 now includes an informative annex on Managing Employee Core Body Temperature.

Annex Q in the recently published,
updated version of AAMI/ANSI ST79
provides some useful guidance
to healthcare facilities to help
decontamination staff to manage their
core body temperature and mitigate
the inevitable discomfort in those
areas. Recommendations include:
• Frequent breaks
• Staying hydrated
• Gowns manufactured of innovative
fabrics that both provide protection
from liquid contaminations, but
allow evaporation of body heat.

• Use of body cooling devices, including evaporative neck and headwear, and active cooling devices utilizing phase change packs

Achievable Solutions

Recognition of the challenges related to controlling core body temperature has naturally lead to product innovations — and are sure to lead to more.

Already, easy to use and affordable evaporative cooling products, that only require a brief dunk in cool water, can deliver hours of cooling, when worn as directed.

Vests and other garments are also available that provide active cooling, utilizing phase change technology that deliver constant cooling to the body for extended periods, after exposure to refrigerator or freezer temperatures.

Another area of rapid development focuses on high tech garment designs utilizing advanced fabrics that simultaneously provide protection from liquids while allowing evaporation of heat from the body.

Workers in the decontamination areas of healthcare facilities are certainly among the unsung heroes of society. They are asked to be experts in the proper handling and cleaning of literally thousands of devices, with an incomparable range of designs and constructions. Their jobs require the handling of highly contaminated — and often sharp — instruments that pose a constant risk to their personal safety and health. To mitigate those dangers, they wear clothing that looks more like a space suit, limiting dexterity and also personal comfort.

We owe these folks a great deal of gratitude, yet their compensation certainly does not reflect that. It is incumbent upon us in the industry to try and make that situation better. Addressing the personal comfort of these unsung heroes is a start.