Annexes 4a – Driving To Zero: The Rationale For Every Load Monitoring Across Sterilization Modalities

Review the key risks of surgical infections – Differentiate the two primary modalities of sterilization: Steam and vaporized hydrogen peroxide ( VH202).
– Cite the relevant AORN, ANSI/AAMI, and CSA guidelines pertaining to quality assurance monitoring across modalities.
– Describe the technology behind the “”king”” of monitoring tools: The Biological Indicator (BI).
– Explain the rationale for every load monitoring (ELM).”

Larry Talapa MS, CQE Larry Talapa is a Microbiologist with over 30 years of experience in the area of sterilization and is currently a Medical Liaison at Solventum in the Medical Surgical (MedSurg) Business. He has extensive experience as a Sterilization Engineer. In his career Larry has been responsible for the development, validation and control of ethylene oxide, steam, radiation, and vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilization processes. Larry has experience as a Quality Assurance Engineer and is an American Society of Quality (ASQ) Certified Quality Engineer (CQE). Larry has presented on the national and global stage on matters pertaining the safe and effective use of low temperature sterilization in healthcare facilities, including ethylene oxide (EO) and vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VH2O2). Larry has also presented on the interpretation of national and international standards and guidelines in addition to topics pertaining to the theory, design, and use of biological and chemical indicators. Larry is currently the cochair of the U.S. Association of the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) working group 04 pertaining to biological indicators and working group 16 pertaining to VH2O2 sterilization processes. Larry is a voting member of several U.S. AAMI working groups and represents the U.S. on standards at the international level at International Organization of Standardization TC198 (ISO) for biological indicators and VH2O2 sterilization processes.