The Dutch Central Sterilization Club (CSC) is an association with the intention to act as a forum for all who are interested in the preparation and the function of Central Sterile Supply Departments, sterilization procedures and the handling of sterile devices for medical purposes. Furthermore the CSC encourages fundamental and practical research of field related issues.
The CSC has approx. 340 members of which 248 are working in non-commercial organizations; mainly the Central Sterile Supply Departments (CSSD) in hospitals. The CSC encourages the participation of commercial oriented parties, such as industry, suppliers and service providers in her activities. The contribution of these parties is appreciated for their valuable know-how and product related presentations at the semi-annual conferences. Relations are maintained with other healthcare organizations, international sister organizations as well as the government and the Inspectorate for healthcare.
The CSC was founded on 26 September 1969 and celebrated her thirtieth anniversary with a two-day conference in September 1999.
Since 1976 the CSC takes care of the training programs for sterilization technicians and CSSD managers. These training programs provide the basic knowledge, necessary to work in or to manage a CSSD. On going education is provided during the CSC conferences, which are held twice a year. A wide variety of themes have been addressed at these conferences, such as cost calculation for CSSD's, new sterilization methods, cleaning of surgical instruments and the disinfection of flexible endoscopes.
The executive committee of the CSC makes a great effort to get the job of the sterilization technician a formal recognized profession. The first milestone in this process was the formalization of the occupational profile. Once the profession is recognized, the Ministry of Education will provide the necessary means for a professional training.
Besides participating in the Dutch standardization committee on sterilization of medical devices, members of the CSC write guidance documents on a number of subjects. The first guidance document was published in 1998 and deals with loan instruments. The document gives practical guidance about the procedure to follow and the agreements to make with the provider of the instruments. A second guideline was written on packaging. This well received document helps CSSD managers to implement the European standards on packaging.
Currently a working group of the CSC is doing research on the quality of the instructions for the reprocessing of reusable medical devices. Under the medical device directive manuafcturers are obliged to provide detailed instructions for the cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation of reusable medical devices. Many complaints form CSSD managers have let to the establisment of this working group. The group planned to offer a report to the Inspectorate for healthcare matters early 2002.
The Netherlands are in Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany. The Netherlands' territory is mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders), with some hills in the southeast. With a total of 1,027 km land boundaries, The Netherlands share borders with Belgium (450 km) and Germany (577 km). The Netherlands' coastline to the North Sea extends over 451 km. The Netherlands consist of twelve provinces (Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland) and two dependent areas (Aruba, Netherlands Antilles).
Statistics
Area: 41,526 km² (land 33,883 km², water 7,643 km²)
Population: 16,318,199 (July 2004)
Capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of the government
Language: Dutch
Religion: Roman Catholic 31%, Protestant 21%, Muslim 4.4%, other 3.6%, unaffiliated 40% (1998)
Climate: temperate, marine with cool summers and mild winters