Decontamination Procedures Flashcards
6 cards from real IAHCSMM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Decontamination Procedures flashcards as text
The recommended water temperature range for most manual instrument washing is:
Answer: Tepid to warm water approximately 27 to 43 degrees C (80 to 110 degrees F)
Most enzymatic cleaners and detergents are optimized for tepid to warm water approximately 27 to 43 degrees C (80 to 110 degrees F), which removes soil without denaturing enzymes or fixing proteins.
Which action is MOST critical when manually cleaning instruments with channels or lumens?
Answer: Using a channel brush of the correct diameter and flushing with detergent solution
Instruments with lumens or channels require brushing with a correctly sized channel brush and flushing with detergent solution to remove debris from internal surfaces that cannot be reached by external cleaning.
What is the purpose of performing point-of-use pre-treatment on surgical instruments immediately after a procedure?
Answer: To prevent blood and tissue from drying and hardening on instruments, which would make them harder to clean later
Point-of-use pre-treatment prevents blood and tissue from drying on instrument surfaces, which would make subsequent cleaning more difficult and less effective.
In a mechanical washer-disinfector, what is the primary purpose of the thermal disinfection phase?
Answer: To reduce bioburden by applying heat sufficient to inactivate most pathogens, achieving disinfection
The thermal disinfection phase uses hot water (typically 93 degrees C / 199 degrees F) to achieve thermal disinfection - significantly reducing bioburden but not achieving sterilization.
Why is it important to keep instruments submerged when scrubbing them in the decontamination sink?
Answer: To prevent aerosolization of blood and infectious particles that could expose CS workers and contaminate the environment
Submerging instruments below the water surface while scrubbing prevents splashing and aerosolization of contaminated particles, reducing CS worker exposure and environmental contamination.
After ultrasonic cleaning, instruments should be:
Answer: Rinsed thoroughly to remove detergent and loosened soil before further processing
Instruments must be thoroughly rinsed after ultrasonic cleaning to remove detergent residue and the loosened soil that the ultrasonic process displaced, before inspection, packaging, and sterilization.