Ar. Jithin A V Assistant Professor, DCSAAD, Vagamon
A central sterile supply department is a hospital support service, which is entrusted with processing and issues of supplies that include sterile instruments and equipment used in various departments in a maternity hospital. The aim is to provide an economic, efficient, continuous quality supply of sterile materials to the various areas in the hospital with the main objective of high-quality patient care.
At its heart, the CSSD is about protection, which will provide all the departments with an adequate supply of reliably sterilized material for routine and emergency use. Childbirth involves instruments, linens, and equipment that come in direct contact with mothers and babies. If these aren’t properly sterilized, even the smallest trace of germs can lead to infections that put lives at risk.CSSD plays an effective role in hospital infection control activities.
Another factor is trust and confidence. Parents usually step towards a maternity hospital with the hope that very factors are at a quality level. Knowing that there is a system working quietly behind the scenes to uphold the highest standards of hygiene reassures families that they are in safe hands, and also they follow quality standards.
For doctors, nurses, and midwives, a CSSD is a lifeline service. Instead of worrying about whether instruments are clean or spending extra time preparing them, they can focus completely on caring for the mother and baby. This ensures smooth workflow, not only saves time but also ensures that emergencies can be handled without delay. Space requirement of CSSD depends on the total beds of the hospital and other factors such as the type and number of sterilized installed. It varies from 0.7 to 1 m 2 per bed.
For the advanced learning part of their semester 5 for the subject Architectural Design V for B.Arch course, the students of DC School of Architecture and Design, Vagamon, the best architecture college in Kerala, have visited Medical Trust Hospital, Ernakulam South Block. They have learned in detail about CSSD from clean & dirty articles-washrooms, washroom packing-sterilization-sterile store-distribution and issue, and their functional relationship.
In short, the advantage of having a CSSD in a maternity hospital plays a major role as it saves lives, protects families, and allows healthcare user groups to do their jobs with confidence. It may work behind the scenes, but its impact is felt in every healthy cry of a newborn and every relieved smile of a mother.
