As part of a planned facilities upgrade, Orlando Health, a not-for-profit healthcare organization in Central Florida, has been conducting a series of “steam blow-offs” during the month of January to vent the new sections of its steam utility piping system. Here’s a snapshot of the details according to Orlando Health:
- The volume of sound produced during the venting process is expected to peak at 150 decibels, which is equivalent to the noise level one would experience standing on an aircraft carrier as a jet takes off.
- Orlando Health team members, physicians and patients who are on campus when the work is performed, are being notified prior to each event and team members working on the project are wearing protective hearing devices.
- The venting procedure will expel hot vapor 40 to 50 feet out of the pipes and sand-sized particulate matter approximately 30 feet, at a velocity of 1,250 feet per minute.
- Blockades have been erected in specific areas each weekend to prevent people and vehicles from getting too near the work.
“Steam utility systems, like the one at Orlando Health, are the most efficient types of heat exchange for large facilities. They are critical to hospital operations,” stated Orlando Health. “The steam utility system is the source of all hot water in the hospitals, from cafeteria steam tables to sterile processing.”
What captured Healthcare Purchasing News’ attention was the mentioning of sterile processing. Was this a standard practice at other healthcare facilities as well? To find out we asked some sterile processing professionals for their reaction.
“What is being done at the Orlando Hospital is a new process to me,” responded Sharon Greene-Golden, BA, CRCST, FCS, Manager, Sterile Processing, Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, in Rockville, MD. “In all of my years in Sterile Processing I have never had my facilities department do such a drastic process to clear the steam line. Steam lines in my past and present have been taken care of by changing steam traps and filters to aid in the quality of steam. The steam process does not impact the water quality to the washers and sinks in the department. The ROI water system is completely unattached to the steam delivery system that services the Sterile Processing department.”
Jonathan A. Wilder, Ph.D., Managing Director, Quality Processing Resource Group, LLC, added, “Hospitals should do this on a regular basis, and flush and disinfect their water systems as well. Clearing contaminants out of the plumbing is a good idea that improves infection control and limits the possibility of stained/damaged instruments. As for disinfection, a facility we are aware of was having increased HAIs; their water supply was full of bacteria. CDC prescribes a chlorine shock of water plumbing (3 times) in cases like this. To our knowledge, this treatment made the HAI problem go away.”
