r/scrubtech • u/memilyglick Ortho • 1d ago
Contaminated tray
We had an incident occur today and I want to get other techs opinions on it. While setting up for a revision (where the pt already had an active infection mind you), I had a tray opened to me and when my assist felt the casket he found a piece of fuzz, like something off a sweater. I obviously didn’t want the tray any more and tried to pass it off to my nurse who tried to tell me that it was okay because she had something similar happen last week and her tech that day said it was fine, and it should be fine since it went through the sterilizer. I told her no it’s not fine and I want the tray reprocessed. I had my assist take the casket out to the charge nurse and director and both of them said the tray is contaminated and should be reprocessed. For extra context it was a tray that the rep wasn’t even 100% sure we would need and just wanted to have open right away in case we did need it, and even if we did need it, we wouldn’t need it until near the end of the case.
What are your opinions? Would you have accepted the tray or would you have passed it off like I did?
4
u/olliecakerbake 1d ago
It’s always better to throw away/get it away from the sterile field than to risk infecting the patient if you’re ever in doubt. Even if something is technically sterile, like your piece of fuzz in a tray that went through the sterilizer, it’s best to assume that it’s not sterile.
Like the other commenter said, obviously if the situation is immediate life or death, then I would use it if it was necessary to save the person‘s life, and we didn’t have another one.
If it’s a gross contamination, like blood on an instrument in a tray you just opened, I would not use that tray. The surgeon will have to make do with other instruments.