Ortho instrumentation

[lynnema]

Is any one experiencing holes in wrappers when they sterilize heavy spine or ortho trays? We are having issues with vendor trays. We use heavy KC wrappers, towels under the trays and shelf liners. Nothing seems to help.

[Diane]

We have had no problem with holes on our end but we did find that when the surgical staff removed them from the cart they were sliding them off instead of picking them up and off. After they were shown what happens when you slide them the least little bit on the cart or even when they put them on their shelves and the hole appears that was the end of holes in the wrappers. If you are finding holes before leaving your department someone is not handling them as they should. We also put cart pads on our carts which are just sheeting material cut to size and doubled for durablity to help with that also. Hope this helps.

[midi]

I have discovered that using a leg drape/draw sheet, works wonders against holes in heavy trays. Lay out the cloth on the wrap, even the heavy duty ones from KC or otherwise, and wrap away.The trays dry well, and we have prevented many tears. Try it!

[timparsons4649]

Hi there,
We found a product from General hospital supply called "spare-a-tear" that has worked great for us. It's a little shaped foam block you put on the corners of heavy trays (inside the wrapper!) to protect them. We've been using them for almost three years and experience VERY few holes in wrappers now. Used to be we'd get several holes per week. Now it's so rare it generates a major stir when it does happen. We find that they pay for themselves in no time at all.
You can Google them for more info.
Good luck,
Tim

[jrc]

At another hospital I worked at, we got some plastic trays to place under the wrapped sets prior to sterilization. The tray stays with the set until it is opened. Worked wonders.

One cheap way to reduce tears is to make sure you never slide wrapped trays.