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PRESIDENT'S REPORT
The CSAO executive is busy planning our annual conference and we are very excited about it! We have some wonderful speakers lined up and the theme this year is "Fundamental Reprocessing – Applications and Monitoring Quality." We have a variety of topics that I am sure you will find educational, including two workshops.
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VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT
"Fundamental Reprocessing: Applications & Monitoring Quality" is the theme and title for this year’s annual conference, to be held on September 12 & 13, 2011 in Toronto. We have a great line-up of conference speakers and are very confident it will be full of great learning opportunities for those who participate in the reprocessing of medical devices.
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This much abbreviated report will indicate that as the Past President, my main focus remains the Constitution and the constitutional amendment process. During the past couple of months, I sent out two constitution amendment forms with the hope that our members will use these forms to suggest changes to our present document.
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CHAPTER REPORT
This year is a year to vote for amendments to the current Constitution 2009-2011. Please see the link below to the current CSAO Constitution and Chapter Bylaws: http://www.csao.net/cmsAdmin/uploads/Constitution_2009up.pdf
Clicking the link below will bring up an ammendment form that you may use to submit your proposed changes. Amendments may be proposed by the following:
· Executive Committee of a Chapter
· An individual Member in good standing
Amendment(s) must be delivered to the Past President ninety (90) days prior to the date of the constitutional vote. Please feel free to e-mail your change forms to either myself at louis.konstant@sickkids.ca or the past president Michael Lacatus at mlacatus@mtsinai.on.ca.
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The Gamma Chapter meeting was held March 24, 2011 at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Agenda items included yearly competency testing (what do we need?) and constitutional changes. We also asked members if they have any suggestions for future meeting topics.
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The Delta Chapter spring meeting is scheduled to take place on May 10, 2011, at Hamilton Health Sciences – General site. The meeting will take place in the Noonan Conference room located on the first floor. Following registration there will be a tour of the new Central Processing Department from 7 – 8pm. The tour will be followed by a social gathering which will include draws for 3 lucky members to attend the CSAO Conference in September.
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The ETA Chapter held a meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at Mount Sinai Hospital. Despite a rush hour snow storm, many managed to attend. The guest speaker was Chris Collins from 3M Technical Group who talked about washer/disinfector testing and validation. Clean Trace technology was introduced. It is a hand held luminometer used to determine the level of contamination in a sample; results are available in seconds. Designed to be used in production areas, the instrument is highly portable, compact and simple to use.
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The Theta Chapter meeting was held February 9, 2011 by OTN. There were 59 attendees from 39 sites. We reviewed the constitution and changes were submitted from the chapter. We had a great discussion and members brought forth some excellent changes. Minutes will be posted on the Theta website and e-mailed to all Theta members. Education was provided by Nick Grayson of Cameron Instruments, who spoke about temperature and humidity controls.
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The following are the 2010-2012 Provincial Executive:
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Click below to download information and form. MEMBERSHIP EXPIRES MAY 31, 2011.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
The next IAHCSMM Annual Meeting is May 1-4, 2011...only a few days before the entire city is "off to the races" to celebrate the Kentucky Derby. Register today to enjoy Early Bird savings on your registration fee, but alsto to beat the Derby rush! From starting gate to finish line, IAHCSMM's 2011 Annual Meeting will keep your CSSD education on track.
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Sheraton Centre - Toronto Ontario
May 28 - June 2, 2011
CHICA CANADA (COMMUNITY AND HOSPITAL INFECTION CONTROL ASSOCIATION-CANADA) is a multidisciplinary, professional organization for those engaged in the prevention and control of infections. CHICA was incorporated under the Canadian Corporation Act in 1976 and is a registered non-profit organization. CHICA has over 1600 members.
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Ottawa Convention Centre
September 29 to October 1, 2011
The CSGNA is a special interest group representing gastroenterology nurses from across Canada. The association includes endoscopy nurses, other health care professionals and workers in the field of gastroenterology, endoscopy or a related field.
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October 12-15, 2011
Estril, Portugal www.wfhssportugal2011.com
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CANADIAN STANDARDS & ACCREDITATION
Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) document with latest revisions (Feb 2010)
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Review all the standards required in your facility on the CSA website.
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ARTICLES RELATED TO STERILIZATION AND DECONTAMINATION
All too many Central Sterile Supply Department professionals find themselves removed from the task of managing, cleaning and disinfecting endoscopes – instead watching the responsibility fall on the facility's Endoscopy technicians, some of whom have little training and experience to tackle the critically important task safely and effectively. It's a scenario that's been perpetuated by two common realities: that some Endoscopy professionals are reluctant to hand over the duties to the CSSD, and, frankly, that some CSSD professionals simply don't want to assume the daunting task.
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St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, Ore. acknowledged Monday that doctors used a partially disinfected scope during several patient colonoscopies last year. The revelation comes as one of those patients is suing the hospital for negligence.
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The B.C. Government has made the announcement that many in Kamloops have been waiting for: a $10.7-million investment in the sterilization of surgical tools at Royal Inland Hospital.
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The head of a national veterans organization is calling for the John Cochran VA Medical Center to be shut down completely. The surgery center at the troubled VA Hospital was closed this week over contamination fears. This is just the latest problem at Cochran.
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Sterile processing professionals are exposed to many chemicals in their daily work life, including sterilant gases, disinfectants, cleaning chemicals, etc. The function of most of these chemicals is to destroy pathogenic microorganisms, and because humans share a similar biological heritage with the microbes, sterilant and disinfectant chemicals are potentially hazardous to anyone exposed.
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A simple adjustment in the way your facility cares for cataract surgery instruments could go a long way to help prevent toxic anterior segment syndrome, or TASS, a potentially devastating post-op inflammation that slows recovery at its best and necessitates corneal transplant at its worst.
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Let's face it, not every Central Sterile Supply Department is computerized. In some rural facilities and even a few larger institutes, it is not uncommon to find CSSD departments without a computerized tracking system. This can be due to a lack of funds or even a belief that it is not needed at this point. Regardless of the reason, the absence of a tracking system can hamper some functions in the CSSD, even if the department does not fully recognize it.
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We are very pleased to put out the April CSAO e-newsletter. Time seems to be moving very fast so far this year, as Spring is here and the September Conference is even closer. The Executive Group has been working very hard to plan an informative and exciting couple of days. As always, the e-newsletter will provide updates and information from the Executive Committee, Chapter reports and other articles and links related to Standards, Conferences and Educational opportunities. Please let me know if you have any ideas to add to any upcoming newsletters.
Louis
louis.konstant@sickkids.ca
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Steris Corporation
Cardinal Health
Insight Information
Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP)

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