Processing and Storing Laryngoscope Blades

According to the CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), laryngoscope blades are “semicritical” items, which are defined as, “Items that directly or indirectly contact mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. They should be sterilized or subjected to high-level disinfection before reuse.” Read HICPAC’s document entitled Guidelines for Preventing Healthcare Associated Pneumonia. The last page of the guideline lists laryngoscope blades as semicritical items. Recommendation IIIA1b (pages 57-58) states how semicritical items must be processed and… readmore

Heine Laryngoscope Cleaning and Maintenance Guide

Clean immediately after intubation to prevent the drying-on of residues. We recommend wiping with wet cleaning tissues or washing with a SOFT nylon brush and cleaning solution. Cleaning agent: enzymatic or neutral to ®mildly alkaline (e.g.Neodisher MediClean) After cleaning, rinse blades with demineralized water thoroughly & dry at 65 °C max. MACHINE CLEANING AND DISINFECTION For manual cleaning and disinfection, only those products which are approved for use on medical devices made of stainless steel and fiber optics may be used. The manufacturer’s readmore

Heine compatibility with STERRAD Sterilizers

Hygiene is an issue where requirements as well as risks are always increasing. The goal is to constantly improve the protection of patients and users from contamination which could be transferred by medical devices. In the field of intubation we realize that the requirements for the reprocessing of Laryngoscope Handles are stronger than ever before. Until now Heine has only allowed the steam sterilization of the outer sheath of our laryngoscope handles. To improve this situation, we tested and modified… readmore