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258 Tasks for the Veterinary Assistant

FIGURE 14.12 Instrument cleanser and ultrasonic cleaner.

Instrument Packs Step 3 Make sure all the instruments are unlatched.
Assemble the instruments as shown in Figure 14.14c,
Instrument packs are those that contain the hemostats, with the sterilization strip positioned as shown. Place
needle holders, and other instruments used during a the assembled instruments in the center of the wrap.
surgical procedure. Every clinic will have their own Step 4 Place the counted gauze sponges on top of the assem-
“recipe” for how many of each is placed in the pack. The bled instruments (Figure 14.15a). It is important to
following list is just an example of what should be count the sponges so that none are left inside the patient
included, which you will have to adjust as per the wishes when they are counted at the end of surgery. Gauze
of the veterinarian (Figure 14.13): sponges come in a sleeve and if you look closely you will
see that every tenth one is hanging out a bit from the
A. 2–3 Rochester–Carmalt forceps stack (Figure 14.16). So you could conceivably just take
B. 2 Crile or Kelly forceps the gauze in groups of 10. However, you should always
C. 4 Halstad Mosquito forceps count because the sleeve could have been dropped or
D. #3 Scalpel handle some taken out for use elsewhere! This would mess up
E. Groove director your count and potentially cause the patient to be
F. Snook hook reopened to look for the missing gauze sponges.
G. Dressing thumb forceps Step 5 First fold – starting with the closest point of the top
H. Adson or Adson‐Brown or rat‐tooth thumb wrap take it over the instruments then fold it back as
forceps shown in Figure 14.15b. The first folded edge must be
I. Metzenbaum or Mayo scissors even with the instruments and the point ends up
J. Operating scissors pointing toward the outside edge or toward you again.
K. Mayo Hegar or Olsen Hegar needle holder Step 6 Second fold – fold the wrap point on the left so the
L. 4 Backhaus towel clamps.
fold is even with the instruments gathered beneath
and point the point toward the outside edge as shown
The following are the instructions for packing an
instrument pack (Figures 14.14, 14.15, 14.16, 14.17, in Figure 14.15c.
and 14.18): Step 7 Third fold – same as step 6 only with the right‐
hand point – not shown.
Step 1 Gather supplies – all of the instruments required Step 8 The fourth corner is brought over the width of the
for the pack, two cloth wraps, gauze sponges, steriliza- package toward you and the folding point is deter-
tion indicator, and autoclave tape (Figure 14.14a). mined. This would be the edge of the gathered instru-
Step 2 Layout wraps – position the wraps, one on top of ments in the wrap (Figure 14.17a). Grasp the wrap at
the other as shown in Figure 14.14b, with the corners this point and Figure 14.17b shows how the top of the
pointing at you. wrap is folded with the point folded under.