Sterile storage, transport and inventory (9%)

Sterile until an event says otherwise

This domain is 9 percent of the outline. Event-related sterility means a properly sterilized package stays sterile until something happens to it: moisture, a hole, a broken seal, a dropped lock, a compromised filter. Time alone is not the enemy, unless the manufacturer printed an expiration date on a commercial product. Those dated products rotate first in, first out.

Transport in closed carts or covered bins. Inspect every package before it goes to a case. Corrugated shipping boxes stay in the breakout area; they do not belong on sterile storage shelves. Storage clearances (off the floor, away from outside walls, below sprinklers) follow facility policy so dust, mop water, and sprinkler spray are not the event that ends sterility.

Finding and recalling a set

PAR levels, exchange carts, requisitions, and case carts are distribution systems, not synonyms. Loaners and consignments are tracked because they are not yours and because an implant recall has to find the patient. The lot number you recorded at sterilization is what makes that search possible. Waste is damaged, expired, and obsolete product, and it is counted.