What is one key consideration for maintaining sterile technique during patient transport to the operating room?

• A. Keep sterile fields intact, minimize traffic near the sterile area, and ensure sterile equipment stays sterile.
• B. Allow traffic to facilitate monitoring during transport.
• C. Use non-sterile gurneys to speed.
• D. Break sterility to adjust patient.

Answer: (A)

Preserving asepsis during transport means preventing contamination of the sterile field as the patient moves toward the OR. The best approach is to keep the sterile field intact, minimize traffic near that area, and ensure sterile equipment remains sterile. During transport, any disturbance or approaching nonsterile surfaces can introduce particles or microorganisms into the sterile field, so limiting movement and door openings helps reduce this risk. Keeping sterile equipment covered and handling it with sterile technique further protects against contamination, since once sterility is compromised, the entire sterile field is at risk and may require re-preparation. Allowing traffic or using nonsterile gurneys would increase the chance of contamination and breaking sterility would undermine patient safety.