Aspirus Wausau Hospital Central Sterilization Team Exceeding Industry Standards

The Aspirus Wausau Hospital (AWH) Central Sterilization (CS) team is one of the groups on the front lines of defense when it comes to ensuring patient safety.

They are charged with the responsibility of ensuring surgical instrumentation required by medical professionals used in procedures are sterile.

And according to 3M, they exceed industry standards.

The AWH CS team was recognized by 3M for Every Load Monitoring using 3M’s Attest Biological Indicator (BI) on every sterilization load.

“Our team understands the importance of their role serving our patients and places an emphasis on patient safety” says Joe Abt, AWH Surgical Services Manager. “Using a BI on every load ensures every patient receives the highest standard of care in sterilization monitoring.”

A BI provides information on whether necessary conditions were met to kill a specified number of microorganisms for a given sterilization load, providing a level of confidence in the process.

Industry standard is a BI should be used at least weekly and preferably daily for routine monitoring of sterilization loads. AWH uses a BI on every sterilization load.

“We’re emphasizing patient safety,” says Abt. “Patients come to us when they’re in need of care and my team makes sure our medical professionals have safe tools to do their job.”