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Anchor the cuff on your thumb. With your fingers still under the cuff, pull the cuff up and away from your hand and over the knitted cuff of the gown.

Repeat the preceding step to finish gloving your other hand.

To gown and glove the surgeon, follow these steps:

Pick up a gown from the sterile linen pack. Step back from the sterile field and let the gown unfold in front of you. Hold the gown at the shoulder seams with the gown sleeves facing you.

Offer the gown to the surgeon. Once he or she has the arms in the sleeves, let go of the gown. Be careful not to touch anything but the sterile gown. The circulator will tie the gown.

Pick up the right glove. With the thumb of the glove facing the surgeon, place your fingers and thumbs of both hands in the cuff of the glove and stretch it outward making a circle of the cuff. Offer the glove to the surgeon. Be careful that the surgeon’s bare hand does not touch your gloved hands.

Repeat the preceding step for the left glove.

Cleaning the Operating Room

Cleanliness in the operating room is an absolute must. Cleaning routines must be clearly understood and carefully followed. The cause of postoperative wound infections have on occasion been traced to the operating room. Since no two patients are alike and all patients have their own “resident” bacteria, every surgical case must be considered contaminated.

At the beginning of each day, all the fixtures, equipment, and furniture in each operating room are damp dusted with an antiseptic germicide solution. During the operation, keep the room clean and orderly at all times. Should sponges be dropped on the floor or if blood or other body fluids spill, clean the area immediately using a disinfectant germicide solution and a clean cloth. Between each operation, clean all used items. The area of the floor occupied by the surgical team is cleaned, using the wet vacuum method. If a wet vacuum is not available, mops may be used if a clean mop head is used following each operation. Gowns and gloves are removed before leaving the room. All linens and surgical drapes are bagged and removed from the room. All trash and deposable items are bagged and taken from the room. All instruments are washed by gloved hands or placed in perforated trays and put through a washer/sterilizer.

At the completion of the day’s operations, each operating room should be terminally cleaned using an antiseptic germicide solution with the following tasks accomplished:

Clean all wall or ceiling-mounted equipment.

Clean all spotlights and lights on tracks.

Thoroughly scrub all furniture used in the room, including the wheels.

Clean metal buckets and other waste receptacles and, if possible, put them through the washer/sterilizer.

Clean scrub sinks.

Machine scrub the entire floor in each room. If a machine is not available, use a large floor brush.

Suction up the disinfectant germicide solution that is used on the floor, using a wet vacuum. If mops are used, make sure a clean mop head is used for each room. The use of mops in the operating room is the LEAST DESIRABLE method of cleaning.

GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS IN THE OPERATING ROOM

Since safety practices are important to emphasize, this section will cover some of the situations that are potentially hazardous and discuss what might be done to eliminate the hazard.

All personnel should know the location of all emergency equipment. This includes drugs, cardiac arrest equipment, and resuscitators. All electrical equipment and plugs must be of the explosion-proof type and bear a label stating such. There should be written schedules of inspections and maintenance of all electrical equipment. Navy regulations prohibit the use of explosive anesthetics in the operating room. These regulations,