The purpose of an autoclave is to sterilize medical equipment or waste and help with bio-hazardous waste disposal in Fort Lauderdale. It does this by exposing stuff placed inside it to highly pressurized steam for a set period of time.
Most autoclaves, which are also called “steam sterilizers”, are automated and it is enough to simply load them with infectious or hazardous waste or medical equipment, press the button and the machine takes care of the rest.
However, as it perform a very important bio-hazardous waste disposal function, an autoclave needs to be properly calibrated to be fully effective. This has to be done every once in a while, at regular intervals, as a difference of a few degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit can be the difference between sterilized and non-sterilized items.
Calibrating an autoclave is not rocket science, fortunately and if you read the instructions carefully, you don’t need to send for a technician to do it for you. All you need are a thermometer to register the temperature and a stopwatch to measure time and you can monitor three main functions of an autoclave:
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Time
Let’s find out how to each is calibrated.
Calibrating the Autoclave Temperature
Calibration test for the temperature inside the autoclave is simple. It requires placing the thermometer next to the temperature sensor of the machine (located inside the chamber) and run a with an empty autoclave. Note any deviations from the normal temperature and inform the technician responsible for fixing the autoclave about it.
Calibrating the Autoclave Time
This test is also easy. All you need to do is set the autoclave for a standard cycle. Start it and your stopwatch at the same time. Make sure that you set your stopwatch to the time it normally needs for an autoclave to finish a cycle. If the machine has finished by more than 30 seconds before or after the optimal time period, note it and alert the technicians, so they can make adjustments to eat.
Calibrating the Autoclave Pressure
A pressure test for an autoclave should come after you’ve completed calibration adjustments for temperature and time on this bio-hazardous waste disposal machine. If either the time or the temperature are off, the pressure will be wrong as well.
What you need to do here is load the chamber as usual and start a cycle. When the temperature inside the autoclave is 121 degrees Celsius, the pressure bar should indicate 15 psi.
Just with the temperature and the time, you need to make a note of the difference on the gauge, so the technicians will know what adjustments they have to make.
Bottom Line
Make sure, at least once every month, that your autoclave is working properly and that its timer, temperature and pressure are all working properly. A non-calibrated autoclave won’t do much good where sterilization is necessary, and as such, won’t be of much help in Fort Lauderdale bio-hazardous waste disposal.
