Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 11 TSC 251 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Three Zones of the Surgical Suite
The idea
The surgical suite is divided into three zones, unrestricted, semirestricted and restricted, each with its own purpose and attire rules.
In practice
Walk inward through the zones. First, the unrestricted zone is the outer area, where street clothes are allowed: admissions, offices, changing rooms, break rooms and supply receiving. Second, the semirestricted zone is in between, and everyone there wears surgical attire; the textbook places areas such as the preoperative and recovery units and medication rooms here. Third, the restricted zone is the innermost area: the operating rooms themselves, the scrub sinks, substerile rooms and the sterile core. In the restricted zone, surgical attire plus a head covering and a mask are required, and access is strictly limited.
Where people slip
Facilities draw the boundaries of their zones differently, so learn your own facility's map. The rule that does not change is that the closer you move to the sterile field, the stricter the attire and the fewer the people.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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