Life's way too short to waste time on things you'd rather say “no” to. It's like a train on a tight schedule in the blink of an eye it'll pass you by. Case Medical’s thirty years in health care has been pretty remarkable, given economic ups and downs, supply chain challenges, two floods, a pandemic, and sometimes competitive gaslighting. With that said, Case Medical remains resilient, forward looking, and optimistic.

Have you ever noticed as you’re waiting to board a flight that the pilot will do a walk around of the plane. He’ll look at the front wheels, walk underneath and shine a flashlight into an open compartment, take a moment to inspect the fuel connection and then the wings. The pre-flight checklist is done so the pilot knows the plane is safe to fly it's one of the reasons flying is so safe.

Education lays the groundwork needed to feel confident in our abilities and helps us find our passions in life. If you think back to when you’re just learning a new task it can seem quite overwhelming. Thirty years ago, when Case Medical was just getting started making our first trays seemed almost impossible, but we kept at it...

Common sense is sound, practical judgment concerning everyday matters. Funny how the common sense things we do at home can translate into best practices on the job. Take for example the dirty dishes after breakfast, dried on egg yolk can be tough as heck to wash off by hand, let alone expecting the dishwasher to clean it. So, at home we rinse the dishes before they go into the dishwasher. The same holds true when it comes to pre-cleaning medical devices like endoscopes with many passages to clean inside and out...

There is a very important principle when it comes to operations, process and sterilization outcome called parametric release. What this means is that when all parameters are set and equipment properly functioning, the outcome will always be positive and predictable...

Do you worry about what goes into your body; what chemicals might be going into your children? The list keeps growing and now there are “Forever Chemicals” that never break down and go away, in fact, these compounds may take hundreds, or even thousands, of years to break down...

Gels can preserve tissue and bioburden under a tough to remove clear coating. Jurassic Park, the book and movie was based on the notion that mosquitos were so well persevered in amber that dinosaur DNA could be recovered after millions of years. Well, pre-cleaning gels work much the same way, after a short time a sticky skin forms on the gel, trapping the debris beneath and becoming virtually impervious to cleaning. Enter the pre-cleaning gel, easy to use, and convenient, made to prevent soil from drying onto used instruments; is it wet or just an illusion?

Sponges may not be the best way to pre-treat endoscopes at patient’s bedside. There are 54 billion bacterial cells on a single cubic centimeter of the average kitchen sponge. They are breeding grounds for all types of germs and bacteria. A common sponge’s spatial partitioning – the way it’s divided into different sectors of various sizes – caters to bacteria that prefer isolated environments and those that prefer to be around other organisms as well, making it the best of both worlds for microbial communities.

Toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) is an acute, noninfectious inflammation of the eye, it is a complication of cataract extraction surgery. One thing is clear there is no one cause of TASS. Did you know that there are so many possible causes of TASS that the CDC sums it up this way: “… most cases (of TASS) are attributed to 1) contaminants on surgical instruments, resulting from improper or insufficient cleaning; 2) products introduced into the eye during surgery, such as irrigating solutions or ophthalmic medications; or 3) other substances that enter the eye during or after surgery, such as topical ointments or talc from surgical gloves. So why are so many folks in charge of processing ophthalmic instruments reluctant to use enzymatic cleaners or any detergent at all?

Join us tomorrow for an inside look at what it takes to manage an SPD, we'll discuss critical aspects of the job including; the role of the manager, effective coaching, quality assurance and continuous improvement, are some of the topics. Case Medical presents this as a free online experience, part of our ongoing commitment to better outcomes for patients and staff. There will be two sessions offered at 11:00 am EDT, and again at 6:00 pm EDT.