Moving toward a pass through reprocessing system.

With the recent CRE outbreaks occurring in countless American Hospitals due to the design of specialized duodenoscopes, you can't help but wonder how infection control practices for reprocessing endoscopes can be improved to further prevent the spread of harmful infections. Separation of clean and dirty areas of a reprocessing space is critical to ensure that endoscopes are not recontaminated after reprocessing. This requirement is outlined in CSA's Standard for the decontamination of reusable medical devices (Z314.8-14). It specifies that the areas where clean and contaminated items reside should be separated by walls or partitions to control traffic flow and contain contaminants. 

The easiest way to meet this requirement is by using a pass through AER which is built into the wall separating the clean and dirty areas of the MDRD. A pass through AER ensures that only clean endoscopes make their way over to the clean side for drying and storage. This approach is recommended in the ISO Requirements and tests for washer disinfectors
employing chemical disinfection for thermolabile endoscopes (ISO 15883-4:2008), which is the recognized standard in Europe. 

Using a pass through AER like ARC's PT3AER can ensure a one-way workflow and limits the room for error in your MDRD, significantly reducing the chances of recontaminating an endoscope after completing the disinfection process.