The frequency of adverse events (incidents and accidents) related to medical device reprocessing (MDR) is a concern for health care services. By definition, an incident means that a medical device breaches a recognized standard for MDR without having been used on a patient. An accident refers to any use on a patient of a medical device which does not meet a recognized standard for MDR, with that use potentially affecting the patient’s health status (INSPQ, 2014).
This report describes the results of monitoring incidents and accidents related to MDR in Quebec between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. Over this year, a total of 3,476 adverse events related to MDR were reported as of June 15, 2017. Of those, 2,933 (84%) were incidents and 543 (16%) were accidents, involving a total of 545 patients. Distribution of these events using the MSSS severity scale (Appendix 1) was:
- 19% (n = 660) were severity A incidents: circumstances or situations w…
Centre d'expertise en retraitement des dispositifs médicaux