PRACTICE PARTNER
OFFICE CONSULT
The purpose of this column is to answer questions about issues that we either hear about frequently, or
that have a wide applicability across the profession. If you have any questions or topic suggestions for this
column, please email them to [email protected].
The safe administration
of medication is critical
Infection
Control and
Prevention
Transmission of blood-borne pathogens (Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV) can occur from unsafe and
improper medication administration by injection and infusion. To ensure that physicians are using medica-
tions appropriately, Public Health Ontario (PHO) has developed some questions about medication admin-
istration in a Frequently Asked Questions document about infection prevention and control lapses. We have
reprinted the questions here.
1
Should the diaphragm of medication vials
be wiped prior to accessing with a syringe?
Adherence to aseptic technique when accessing
medication vials is of utmost importance. Medica-
tion vials should be accessed on a surface that is
clean and where no dirty, used or potentially con-
taminated equipment is placed or stored. The ac-
cess diaphragm of vials should be scrubbed using
friction and 70% alcohol and should be allowed to
dry before inserting a new needle and new syringe
into the vial.
3
A colleague often leaves a needle protruding
from a multidose vial. He says this facilitates
his access to the solution. Is this appropriate?
Once the medication is drawn up, the needle
should be IMMEDIATELY withdrawn from the
multidose vial. A needle should NEVER be left in a
vial to be attached to a new syringe.
MD
2
Is it appropriate to use the solutions from
multidose vials until the vials are empty?
Review the product leaflet for recommended dura-
tion of use after entry of the multidose vial and
discard opened multidose vials within 28 days,
whichever is shorter.
This document was adapted with the permission of Public Health Ontario. Public Health Ontario assumes no responsibility
for the content of any publication resulting from translation/changes/adaptation of PHO documents by third parties.
ISSUE 2, 2018 DIALOGUE
45