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Common Canister

By Robert Williams posted 11-08-2018 10:57

  
I am looking for any information from hospitals that have implemented a successful common canister program. Specifically, what is your process for infection control, what regulatory issues have you ran across, and any other issues that arose?

Thank you,
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02-25-2019 15:59

​One of our sister hospitals has used common canister for several years.  They only use 2 inhalers and not on vented or isolation patients.  Each patient gets a spacer that is disposed of Q 7 days and replaced.  Canisters are wiped with alcohol wipes after each patient.  Inhalers are stored in a locked cart the RRT's.  It remains cheaper to use single dose nebulizers instead of MDI's. 
Have had challenges with improper cleaning, storage, & securing.  In my opinion, this is only as successful as your RRT's make it.
Aerogen nebs make much more sense on ventilators vs MDI's- though neither have great deposition (from the literature).

12-10-2018 12:09

​We have used common canisters for over 15 years. Each patient receives a spacer with a one way valve to avoid contamination. Canisters are wiped with alcohol or germicidal wipe after each use. No infection issues.

11-29-2018 11:41

We instituted this some years ago. We use common canisters on many of our patients. We did a full on infection control study and found, with proper technique, there was no cross contamination. We excluded isolation and ventilator patients. Eventually we went to aerogel on ventilator patients for both cost containment and infection control. Our results were excellent. Hope this helps. 
-Charlie