In a hospital or clinic it is necessary that all equipment and materials used for treating patients are absolutely safe for use: the chance for spreading of diseases should be kept as small as possible.

This series of books provides a foundation neded to fulfil this requirement. Originally intended to educate technical service personnel in remote health institutions, it has grown into a textbook that can be used by anyone interested in sterilisation.

Cleaning, decontamination and sterilisation are important methods in this battle against this ever present threat. Especially since the fatal disease AIDS became so powerful and spread world wide, the demand for proper procedures for infection control gained momentum enormously. Diseases such as Hepatitis B, known to be transmitted through contaminated surgical instruments, stimulated the need for stricter guidelines for disinfection and sterilisation.

This book focuses on the most common and most safe method used for sterilisation in the Central Sterile Service Departments in healthcare institutions: sterilisation by pressurized high temperature steam.

A first major step to improvement of sterile supply is the trianing of all personnel involved (technicians’ staff and users). Moreover, in the recently published European standards on sterilisation, education is required of everybody involved in sterilisation, whether it concerns the manufacturer of the sterilising equipment or the technician using or maintaining it.

This series of books provides a foundation neded to fulfil this requirement. Originally intended to educate technical service personnel in remote health institutions, it has grown into a textbook that can be used by anyone interested in sterilisation.

The International Federation for Sterile Supply (IFSS) and the European Forum for Hospital Sterile Supply (EFHSS) are pleased to recommend this book to all their members and all others involved in sterilisation practices.