Infection control is more crucial than ever as healthcare practitioners face increasing caseloads of diseases and viruses as well as treating victims of violence, accidents, natural and human-caused disasters. Proper cleaning of instruments used in treatments has two benefits, most important of which is to help ensure infections are not accidently transmitted to other patients. Moreover, reusing properly cleaned and disinfected instruments can help lower costs for treatment facilities.
In a three-step process the World Health Organization has established practical guidelines for infection control in healthcare facilities: cleaning, disinfection and sterilization. An ultrasonic cleaner is faster, safer, and more thorough than scrubbing, soaking, and even using steam. But as the WHO cautions, it is not a substitute for disinfecting and sterilization. Instead, it can be an important step in cleaning instruments after gross contamination is removed by manual or automatic scrubbing.
