The CFSA aims to promote quality standards in Central Sterilization Departments through education and exchange of knowledge. In order to achieve this, regular workshops are held by our regional forums to provide Sterile Supply personnel with information to assist them in performing their functions to a high standard. The CFSA liaises with other related disciplines to achieve these objectives.
A number of companies are actively involved with all the CSSD Forums and assist by sponsoring the catering, providing administrative functions. The trade are represented on the committees.
The Western Cape Forum has introduced a range (shown below) of general Standard Operating Procedures that hospitals can use to adapt for their own use.
Standard Operating Procedures
SOP No 1. Safety Awareness in Sterile Service Department
SOP No 2. Department Cleaning Procedure
SOP No 3. Departmental Dress Code
SOP No 4. Collection of Soiled/Contaminated Equipment
SOP No 5. Manual Decontamination of Medical Devices
SOP No 6. Prepare, Load and Operate Decontamination Equipment
SOP No 7. Decontamination and Inspection of Loaner Medical Devices
SOP NO 8. Cleaning and Maintenance of Rigid Containers
SOP No 9. Missing Instruments
SOP No 10. Control of Packing Area
SOP No 11. Packing Area Operation
SOP No 12. Packing of Loaner Sets
SOP No 13. Cleaning of Autoclaves
SOP No 14. Steam Sterilization Procedure
SOP No 15. Ethylene Oxide Sterilisation
SOP No 16. Loading and unloading items from the autoclave
SOP No 17. Sterile Pack Storage
SOP No 18. The Delivery and Distribution of Processed items
SOP No 19. Monitoring
SOP No 20. Monitoring autoclaves
SOP No 21. Traceability & Recall Procedures
SOP No 22. Validation of Equipment
SOP No 23. Monitoring ETO Steriliser
SOP No 24. Malfunction of Ethylene Oxide Steriliser
SOP No 25. Planned Maintenance Schedule of Equipment
SOP No 26. Action for Breakdown of Equipment
SOP No 27. Sterile Packaging
SOP No 28. Quality Management
SOP No 29. Decontamination of Textiles/Linen for sterilization
SOP No 30. Inspection, Repair and Replacement of instruments
SOP No. 31 Checking, Assembling and Packing (Wrapping) an Instrument Set
SOP No. 32 Prepare, Load and Operate Ultrasonic Cleaner
Sterile Services Training Courses available in South Africa
Overview
A Foundation and Advanced Foundation Courses in Sterilization and Decontamination giving a brief orientation to all aspects of the CSSD is offered throughout the country. These courses are offered free of charge to anyone that works in the sterile services environment where infection control and specifically decontamination is paramount.
A more advanced short course in decontamination and sterilization is offered by Stellenbosch University faculty of Health Sciences, Unit for infection Prevention and Control. This course is tiered into three modules allowing students to exit the training at various stages of competency depending on their ability. The modules are set according to recognised national and international standards. These courses are not free. The Foundation Course in Decontamination and Sterilization (run by SafMed) is a prerequisite towards the Basic SSD Module.
Courses
1. The Foundation Course is a 5-hour workshop with a short 30-minute competency exam at the end. In order to be issued with a SafMed certificate, students must attain at least 80%.
The Foundation Course will cover the following:
History of Sterile Services
Standard of Care and Legal Implications
Infection Prevention
The Decontamination and Sterilization Process
The Principles of Cleaning
Principals of Inspection of Medical Devices
Principles of Assembly and Packaging
Steam Sterilization Practice
Storage and Distribution
2. The Advanced Foundation Course is aimed specifically at managers and supervisors, runs over 2 days, and has a practical component on risk assessment.
The Advanced Foundation Course will cover the following:
Relevant Legislation
Health and Safety assessment
Basic Microbiology
Sterilization Methods
Monitoring, Tracking and Recording
Risk Assessment
Quality Assurance
3. University Short Basic course in decontamination and sterilization
This is a 5-week course one week is contact teaching. The course provides all levels of SSD workers with a basic understanding of practice and procedure. It serves as an introduction to sterile services and clarifies misconceptions in the workplace. It is highly recommended that senior staff is sent on the course first so that they can train and assist more junior staff.
4. University Short Intermediate course in decontamination and sterilization
This is a 10-week course of which two weeks is contact teaching. It is offered separately or as a module of the Postgraduate Diploma Course in Infection Control. Aimed at a higher level of infection control practitioners, hospital engineers and sterile service staff who have successfully completed the Basic Course in Sterilization and Decontamination, it includes decontamination of heat labile equipment, endoscopes, use of disinfectants, principles of sterilization and validation. A significant component is practical demonstrations and activities.
5. University Short Advanced course in decontamination and sterilization
This is a 10-week course of which two weeks are contact teaching. The module provides an in-depth understanding of equipment, standards, packaging, wrapping and legal aspects of Sterilization and Decontamination.
Contact Information
In order to attend these courses an application form must be submitted, which can be obtained from SafMed's or the University co-ordinators, as follows:
A Practical Guide to Decontamination in Healthcare
Description
Prevention is the first line of defence in the fight against infection. As antibiotics and other antimicrobials encounter increasing reports of microbial resistance, the field of decontamination science is undergoing a major revival. A Practical Guide to Decontamination in Healthcare is a comprehensive training manual, providing practical guidance on all aspects of decontamination including: microbiology and infection control; regulations and standards; containment, transportation, handling, cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of patient used devices; surgical instrumentation; endoscopes; and quality management systems. Written by highly experienced professionals, A Practical Guide to Decontamination in Healthcare comprises a systematic review of decontamination methods, with uses and advantages outlined for each. Up-to-date regulations, standards and guidelines are incorporated throughout, to better equip healthcare professionals with the information they need to meet the technical and operational challenges of medical decontamination. A Practical Guide to Decontamination in Healthcare is an important new volume on state-of-the-art decontamination processes and a key reference source for all healthcare professionals working in infectious diseases, infection control/prevention and decontamination services.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Glossary
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Basic Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry
Chapter 3 Medical and Surgical Procedures and Facilities
Chapter 4 Instrumentation
Chapter 5 Microbiology and Infection Control/Prevention
Chapter 6 Chemistry and Physics
Chapter 7 Post-Procedure Handling, Containment and Transport
Chapter 8 Cleaning
Chapter 9 Disinfection
Chapter 10 Inspection, Packaging and Loading for Sterilization
Chapter 11 Sterilization
Chapter 12 Storage and Distribution
Chapter 13 Safety
Chapter 14 Management Principles
Chapter 15 Special Topics
Author Information
Gerald McDonnell, STERIS Limited, Basingstoke, UK
Denise Sheard, Sterile Services Training Consultant, Cape Town, South Africa
Click here for a book brochure/flyer in PDF format.
South Africa is a medium sized country at the southern tip of the African continent, measuring approximately 1 600km from north to south and roughly the same from east to west, with a total land mass of approximately1.2-million square kilometres. This equates to approximately one-eighth the size of the US, twice the size of France and over three times the size of Germany. South Africa shares long borders with Namibia and Botswana, touches Zimbabwe, has a longitudinal strip of border with Mozambique to the east, and curves around Swaziland before rejoining Mozambique's southern border. The small mountainous country of Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. The largest city is Johannesburg, the economic heartland of the country.
Time Zone: UTC/GMT +2hrs
Currency: South African Rand [ZAR]
South Africa is divided into nine provinces each with its own capital.
Eastern Cape - Bhisho
Free State - Bloemfontein
Gauteng/Johannesburg - Tshwane/Pretoria
KwaZulu-Natal - Pietermaritzburg
Limpopo - Polokwane
Mpumalanga - Nelspruit
North West - Mafikeng
Northern Cape - Kimberley
Western Cape - Cape Town
South Africa has a population of 50,586,757 and is not known as the rainbow nation for nothing; it lies at the crossroads of southern Africa and has 11 official languages, as well as many other unofficial languages. English is generally understood across the country, being the language of business, politics and the media - but is only the sixth most common spoken home language. Most South Africans are multilingual, able to speak more than one language. English- and Afrikaans-speaking people tend not to have much ability in indigenous languages, but are fairly fluent in each other's language. As a result South African English is littered with words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa and other African languages.
The country's democratic constitution, which came into effect on 4 February 1997, recognises 11 official languages, to which the state guarantees equal status.
Afrikaans
English
IsiNdebele
IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
Sesotho sa Leboa
Sesotho
Setswana
SiSwati
Tshivenda
Xitsonga
Indigenous creoles and pidgins including Khoi, Nama and San languages
Other languages include Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu. There are also a few indigenous creoles and pidgins.
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Information about South Africa