Before entering the buffer room, all staff members must be completely covered, with no exposed skin. In the gowning room, everyone puts on sterile, full-body, non-shedding garb that is enclosed at the neck and has sleeves that fit snugly around the wrists. The garb includes an integrated hood and a mask is donned to cover the face. Employees also put on sterile goggles and knee-high boot covers as an extra measure of protection. The entire garbing process takes about 15 minutes.
The gowning room, which is not required by industry standards, meets ISO 7 standards for air quality. This extra controlled room acts as yet another barrier between the compounding process and the outside world, helping to further ensure sterility and minimize particle generation during the garbing process. With more than 60 air changes per hour, AIS Healthcare standards are twice the USP <797> requirement.
In the prep room, all makeup and visible jewelry is removed. Staffers with accepted permanent cosmetic modifications, like microbladed eyebrows or eyelash extensions, have a disclosure form on file to help our quality team know they’re in compliance.
In the prep room, all makeup and visible jewelry is removed. Staffers with accepted permanent cosmetic modifications, like microbladed eyebrows or eyelash extensions, have a disclosure form on file to help our quality team know they’re in compliance.
Staff members change into dedicated facility shoes—provided by AIS Healthcare and replaced regularly—when they walk into the isolation room. Then they use a hands-free shoe barrier applicator (BootieButler®) to put new shoe covers over the facility shoes to avoid cross-contamination on the walk to the next stop, the anteroom.
Every time they enter, staff members change into a new set of professionally cleaned, vacuum-sealed scrubs. We go above and beyond to make sure all parts of the body are covered, including requiring socks to always be worn above the ankles.
A mounted mirror is the final stop for all staff members, to confirm that all exposed skin is free of any cosmetics or jewelry, and that they are in compliance with all AIS Healthcare regulations before entering the gowning room. This is the second mirror that staff members use to double-check their compliance.
Our anteroom meets ISO 8 standards, which require the number of airborne particles per cubic meter to be about 10 times less than what’s found in a typical indoor room. USP standards also call for 20 air change cycles per hour in an ISO 8 room—we do 30.
The door into the anteroom, and all interior doors, allow for hands-free access. Once inside, all staff members wash their hands for 30 seconds with 105°F water (timed with a digital clock on the wall) and clean underneath their fingernails with a nail pick, further reducing the chance of bringing in outside contamination.
When we walk, every step releases around 215,000 particles—bacteria, dust and other contaminants—into our surroundings. Before they enter the anteroom, staff members remove their shoe coverings. Then, upon entry into our anteroom, everyone immediately steps onto a Dycem® contamination control mat. This electrostatically charged, antimicrobial floor covering retains up to 99.9% of foot and wheelborne particles, helping to remove any outside contaminants potentially on staff facility shoes. Another shoe covering is then applied. Only then are staff members ready to cross the line of demarcation—embedded in the floor, not taped, to avoid any contaminants in the adhesives.