SurgiCount Medical: Safety-Sponges

Because an erroneously correct sponge count is potentially a matter of life and death, SurgiCount employs one of the most reliable and accurate technologies available – data matrix bar codes – to identify its sponges. Every Safety-Sponge™ is labeled with a data matrix tag containing a unique serial number.

Data Matrix is:

A non-proprietary, open standard utilized worldwide by organizations that put a premium on accuracy
Independently tested and shown to have an accuracy range between 99.99999% and 99.9999999% (1 error in 12 million to 612 million scans)
Already in use to prevent pharmaceutical errors, to track both multi-million dollar assets and instruments in OR’s, and even to meter mail, amongst many other applications
Already in use to prevent medication errors, to track both multi-million dollar assets and instruments in OR's, and even to meter mail

Our data matrix tags are non-absorbent and latex-free polymer strips that repel blood and bodily fluids. Each tag clearly displays the unique serial number embedded in the bar code. And unlike RF and RFID tags that are sewn into pouches, SurgiCount’s data matrix tags are permanently fused into the cotton of the sponge itself to prevent any possible movement and loss of the tag.

Scan Master Tags for Faster Read

In mid-2007 SurgiCount converted all of the Safety-Sponge™ lines to its newly developed “master tagged” manufacturing process. Unlike SurgiCount’s original scan-one-at-a-time methodology, master tags are designed to practically eliminate the time required for the initial scanning-in of sponges by requiring just one scan.

Master tags replicate all the serial numbers in a pack into one large tag placed on a secondary band. When counting in sponges, a user simply scans a master tag to upload all five / ten serial numbers in that pack into the SurgiCounter. After bands are scanned in, they are broken and in accordance to AORN protocol, the sponges manually counted.

SurgiCount safely creates master tags by scanning each sponge, one at a time, at the point of banding in the manufacturing process. Each master pack is then immediately put through a secondary verification process to assure that the sponges and master tags match as well as assuring an accurate pack count. Once verified, the packs are cross-banded to prevent accidental migration/loss of a sponge as the pack moves down the supply chain ladder through distributors and custom-kit packers.

Multi-Packs for Trauma Situations

Developed to satisfy the requests of trauma-center clients, SurgiCount's multi-pack configurations are for use where time is of the essence.

Multi-packs are:

Designed for trauma situations
4x5 Configurations of lap packs
5x10 configurations of 4x4s
Employ master tag process scaled higher
One scan for 20 or 50 sponges