C-Armor®

Complies with AORN standards
Half sheet draping provides only 3 sided protection; AORN recommends 5 sided protection for non-sterile equipment introduced into the sterile field.

Recommended Practice AORN 2009
(e.g., Mayo stands, microscopes, C-arms) should be covered with sterile barrier material(s) before being introduced to or brought into a sterile field. The equipment should be covered with a barrier material on the top, bottom, and all sides.)

Reduces Costly Infection Risk
The average cost of a Surgical Site Infection (SSI) is approximately $33,000*. As of October 2008, hospitals can no longer bill for certain Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). C-Armor® protects the sterile field and efficiently transitions the c-arm from an A/P to lateral image. By definition half sheet draping breaches the sterile field. The number of sterile field breaches is a known risk for surgical site infection. Actively striving to prevent SSIs benefits the patient and the hospital. Surgeons will appreciate the investment in sterility to prevent SSI in their patients.

Saves valuable O.R. Time and reduces biohazard waste
Retrieving half sheets, opening them, and stopping the case to unfold half sheets wastes valuable time and money at $30-$45/minute**. Use of multiple half sheets contributes a significant volume of material to red bag/biohazard waste contributing to additional O.R. expense. By draping only once during a procedure, C-Armor® improves efficiency and saves money for each case in which it is employed. The expense of C-armor® relative to a half sheet is more than accounted for by reducing surgical site infection risk(33K); saving valuable operating time($40/min), reducing biohazard waste($), the cost of multiple drapes($7-$15 avg), and decreasing surgeon, nurse, scrub and c-arm technician frustration and providing a safer environment for the patient.

*Infection Control Hospital Epidemiology 23(4) 183-189, 2002
**Walton Hancock: “Hospital Systems, Impacts on Cost and Quality”