For those Servo i facilities- I would like to know how you process your expiratory cassette? Have you had any problems with them?

We place a bacterial filter before the expiratory cassette so we do not sterilize between patients and then sterilize Cidex ota about every thousand hours. We honestly have never had a problem. I know of a hospital that was Autoclaving them after every use (A bit excessive) and the sterilization dept was putting them in for over the manufacture's recommended 3 minutes. This will shorten the life of the cassette. Just follow their guidelines and you should be fine (It all has to do with your Infection Control Dept.)
Hope this helped

We simply use a bacteria filter before the expiratory cassette and we soak them in isopropal alcohol for 10min then rinse with sterile H2O and let air dry between each patient.

So how do you prevent expiratory resistance from humidity?

You need to use a good expiratory filter, either the servogard or cardinal makes a good filter as well.

We were one of the first centres in Canada to start using the Servo-i in 2002. We have been processing our cassettes after every patient via our own pasteurization process which includes a forced warm air dryer to complete the process. I have heard of some centres who have used super-high temperatures and/or excessive immersion times to the detriment of the membrane. So far, we have been OK with ours (10 cassettes for 5 Servos).

I've only been at this hospital for 6 months but we soak them in isopropal alcohol like OK RT then put them in the dryer. We do this between patients and don't seem to have any problem with them. We do have a bacteria filter which needs to be changed out at least once a shift.