I work in c.s.s.d. and use downward displacement sterilisers. I would like to know why we have to put 2 biological test in the steriliser, the chamber size is under 3m. I put my test pack near the drain line at the front of the chamber.What will two test pack prove? When there is one at the back and one at the front what about the middle, sides, top can anyone explain to me please.

Regards
Rhonda.

Good day Rhonda,

AAMI (Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation) is a group that makes recommendations for sterilization.
Many groups (such as JCAHO, JCIA, etc.) follow these recommendations. AAMI recommends using only one biological test to test the chamber. The biological test should be placed in the most challenging part of the chamber. For steam sterilization, this is normally at the front of the chamber, immediately over the chamber drain.
You might want to use multiple biological tests initially to determine the most challenging part of the chamber if the manufacturer does not provide the information on the most challenging portion of the chamber, but this does not need to be done on a routine basis.

I hope this answers your question.
Pete Bobb