Medium Guide: Dispense
Back to working with the medium guide.
By now you should have one or two 100mL vials that are full or partially full of the filtered and compounded sterile preparation (CSP).
Setup
Youāre going to be working in the still air box. You cannot be in and out of it while youāre working, you need to try to not remove your arms at all as this causes a lot of air to move in and out of the box.
The box should be cleaned with your anti-bacterial and anti-viral cleaner.
Inside the box:
- sterile empty vials with hats on
- sterile stoppers in envelopes
- the 100mL vials with CSP
- needles (wrapped) for drawing/dispensing
- 20mL syringe (wrapped) for dispensing (1 or 2)
- alcohol swabs (wrapped)
- sterile tweezers (wrapped)
Wipe down the items that go in with some isopropyl alcohol. Donāt spray or wipe down the sterile empty vials or sterile stoppers. Read the aseptic technique page if you need more details.
Put gloves on your hands and spray them with IPA.
Dispense
Never hover your hand or any object over an open vial. Due to bacterial shedding, and the fact that bacteria falls down, doing so could cause invisible bacteria to enter your vials.
Put your hands in the still air box.
Wipe the 100mL CSP vial with an alcohol swab.
Draw up an amount of CSP that is divisible by your vial size. Example: for 3mL vials draw up 18mL, this dispenses into 6 vials. For 5mL vials draw up 20mL, this dispenses into 4 vials. For 10mL vials (really not recommended) draw up 20mL, this dispenses into 2 vials.
Holding the 20mL syringe in one hand, pick up an empty vial, remove the foil hat, and dispense the amount of CSP needed. Try not to touch the vial with the needle (difficult on 3mL vials).
Set down the vial. Keep the syringe in hand. Slightly uncover the envelope storing the stoppers and use the sterile tweezers to pick up a stopper and place it on the vial. Push the stopper into place with your finger. Cover the stoppers back up, with the tip of the tweezers inside the envelope to keep them clean.
Pick up another vial and repeat. Do not leave vials without stoppers for longer than absolutely necessary in the still air box as bacteria may fall into them at any time.
Before you draw new CSP, change your needle out as it may have gotten contaminated.
Change your syringe every 3-5 times you use it to draw.
Once all vials are filled and have stoppers in place, you can retrieve the caps and the capper. Go ahead and cap the vials.