Understanding the importance of 'shelf life' evaluations for medical equipment
Manufacturers’ instructions are often confusing but the shelf life, or date of expiry, is always clearly marked on the packaging. This important information helps to assess the viability and the safety of a product.
Storing equipment safely
Whether you’re storing drugs or equipment you should always check that they are in date order and regularly rotated once items have been withdrawn. When replenishing stocks of gloves have a look at wholesale latex gloves on this website for replacement stock. Some drugs have to be stored at certain temperatures so always ensure that these instructions are adhered to. If the drugs aren’t stored at the right temperature they can degrade and become ineffective.
What is medical equipment?
Medical equipment is a term that applies to all products that can’t be classified as medical devices. This can include chairs, tissue storage, gloves, protective clothing and disinfecting and sterilising equipment. In common with medical devices these items should only be used if their expiry date is valid. Sterile gloves have a shelf life date from between five to three years from the date of manufacture. Some sources claim that you can use the gloves after their expiry dates but the latex may have degraded and be unsuitable for use.
Don’t forget medical gasses
It’s not just protective clothing and other types of medical equipment that have a defined shelf life. Gas is widely used in hospitals, dental surgeries and other medical establishments including laboratories. According to the British Compressed Gases Association ‘medical gases have a defined shelf life which is specified within the relevant marketing authorisation.’ Always look on the gas cylinder for the label that will show the expiry date. If you are in any doubt, contact the manufacturer or the government’s medical device standards organisation, the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRI).
Beware old equipment
A recent article in the Express highlighted the dangers of using outdated medical equipment. Staff using an out of date ultrasound scanner suffered from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) as a result of using equipment that was long past its shelf life. ‘50% of the hospital’s obstetric sonography staff have been on sick leave,’ said a hospital union representative as a result of injury from this aged and heavy equipment. Old or obsolete equipment can be just as dangerous as old drugs or medicines.
Setting up procedures
One of the most efficient ways of managing the shelf life of your medical equipment is to ensure that every item of equipment is logged on receipt and that it is rotated in storage so that any out of date stock can be easily found and evaluated for use. Any out of date drugs should be safely discarded and so should any items of equipment that are no longer housed within secure and sterile packaging.
It’s never wise to use equipment that is out of date and therefore it’s always wiser to throw these items away rather than risk treating a patient with out of date equipment.