After removing the defibrillator internal paddle handles, the technician noted cracking of the handle running axially down the handles and near the energy discharge button.The user found three handle assemblies with these cracks.Two of the handle assemblies were less than 1 year old while the third handle assembly was approx.Two years old.Sterilization frequencies were evaluated at less than 150 cycles.This cracking issue has been previously reported to medwatch and manufacturer.Handles were removed from service and sent to biomedical engineering (bme) for reporting.Bme to contact manufacturer for reporting and analysis.Bme reviewed sterilization requirements @ 134dec for 4-5 minutes with drying time @10-14 minutes in pre-vacuum steam sterilizer.The sterile processing department (spd) confirmed this protocol with their logs and information from our processing standardization vendor.Spd also informed biomedical that rotational force was needed many times to removed threaded paddle/spoon from handle.They were concerned that this may be contributing to the failure of these handles.Biomedical sequestered a paddle to send with the handles for evaluation.
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