Airway Carts
Open endotracheal tubes may be safely left on an ED airway cart for 48 hours. (Am J Emerg Med. 2005 Jul;23(4):548-51.) CONCLUSION: It appears that opening, preparing, and storing ETTs in an ED airway cart for up to 48 hours does not increase the risk of bacterial contamination of the ETTs. Sterility of prepared drug syringes Driver et al (Anesth Analg 1998;86:994‑7) evaluated the sterility of drug syringes used in the obstetric operating room. Most anesthesia departments draw up these drugs fresh every 24 hours in order to be prepared for the emergent situation where general anesthesia has to be rapidly induced. Drugs commonly prepared are atropine, succinylcholine, thiopental, ephedrine and oxytocin. The authors of this study prepared 756 syringes and stored them for eight days. They then sampled
42 syringes of each drug randomly selected on days 1,4 and 8. None of the 756 drug syringes grew any organisms. The results of this study imply that one can retain drug syringes for longer periods of time than has been traditionally done. As the cost of the drugs that are daily prepared is minimal, and the risk of forgetting to change drugs if left for a longer period of time is considerable, I would not consider changing my pattern of practice.
Back to top