Why sterilizers are important in the medical field

Some pieces of routine, surgical, and other medical equipment are intended for only one single use. Others are designed for reuse, but before that can happen, they must be decontaminated through a three-step process in which instruments are cleaned, disinfected, and sterilized. Medical waste must also be decontaminated before it can safely be disposed of without the threat of spreading disease.

“Autoclave” is the industry term for a medical sterilizer, but autoclaves are used by more than just the medical, veterinary, chiropractic, and dentistry fields. Autoclaves can also be found in tattoo and body piercing parlours, nail salons, prosthetics manufacturing, and microbiology and mycology labs. In addition to surgical instruments, patient utensils, and lab equipment, autoclaves are sometimes used to sterilize medical waste and single-use equipment before it’s safely disposed of.

The Risk of Infection from Equipment

The risk of infection from used medical equipment is classified into one of three categories that help determine the method of decontamination to be used.

•    Low-risk items are routine office equipment such as stethoscopes that don’t normally come into contact with open wounds. Low-risk items may be cleaned with hot, soapy water or a mild disinfectant and seldom need to be sterilized in an autoclave.

•    Intermediate-risk items include tools such as thermometers and respiratory equipment that do not penetrate the skin or come into direct contact with open wounds, but may come into contact with mucus membranes and be near open wounds. Intermediate-risk items usually need to be cleaned and disinfected with a high-level disinfectant. A medical washing machine with a disinfectant cycle can usually do the trick.

•    High-risk items penetrate into the body’s sterile tissues and cavities, causing a high risk of infection if any of these items are contaminated with a microorganism that’s introduced to the body. Examples include catheters and surgical instruments. High-risk items must be properly cleaned and disinfected before they are sterilized in an autoclave and packaged for reuse.

Some high-risk medical items can’t take the heat of the autoclave, or they are simply single use and must be thrown away once opened or used. These include needles, syringes, medical gloves, and tongue depressors—many of the items you’ll find at a routine doctor’s visit. But some of these items, such as needles, penetrate the skin’s surface and may contain infectious microorganisms once used, so they must be sterilized before bring properly disposed of.

Take a look at the Supply Doctor website for a wide range of medical equipment and medical supplies. Here you can find a high-quality autoclave machine and whatever else you may need.