Question: One of our endoscopy rooms is not near the decontamination room. Staff have to take contaminated scopes around a corner and down a 10-foot corridor to be cleaned. We transport them in an Endokit bag in a closed container. Is that acceptable?

Answer: Transporting contaminated endoscopes even a short distance down a corridor requires extra precautions to protect against droplets or airborne particulates from the scopes, says Lynne A. Thomas, BSN, RN, CGRN, vice president of education for clinical endoscopy at IMS in South Birmingham, Ala. She responded to the question after it was posted on our a online discussion board.

Precautions are spelled out in the ASGE's 2011 Multisociety Guideline on Reprocessing Flexible Gastrointestinal Endoscopes. While an open container could be used for transporting scopes to an "immediately adjacent" room, transporting them much farther than that requires "fully enclosed and labeled containers or bags," the guideline states.

Endobags are fine to use, but be aware of scope position and weight to prevent scope damage, says Cindy Howe, RN, CPAN, an OR manager at PinnacleHealth Hospitals in Harrisburg, Pa. Another facility manager prefers a hard-sided container to protect the endoscopes. The container should be large enough to fit a loosely coiled scope in its natural configuration.

Also recommended were restaurant-style busing buckets, because they don't have crevices that would impede cleaning and disinfection. The buckets should be carried on a cart. Brand-name products, such as the Scope Porter from Endotechnik and Cleanascope from Advanced Sterilizer Products, serve the same function.

Leigh Page