User's Manual

Chapter 4: System Operation 4-11
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The SmartSponge Flex is designed on the premise that you will follow a standard practice of counting sponges
prior to use and again after use to then reconcile those counts. It is recognized that there could be instances
where, either intentionally or mistakenly, that sponges that have not been scanned into the case are presented
to the Count Out Basin while in Count Out mode. This is referred to as Broken Protocol.
Broken Protocol
The Broken Protocol warning is triggered when a sponge(s) that has not been scanned into the case is detected
by the Count Out Basin. While this may occur for good clinical reasons (i.e. emergency surgery without time
to scan sponges in before use), it is not recommended procedure.
Since the warning may be presented for different reasons, there are options to
Decline the detected
sponge,
Accept it into the case, or switch to COUNT IN mode. See Figure 4-9 .
Figure 4-9 Broken Protocol Screen
• DECLINE
Declining is the course to follow when a sponge(s) was mistakenly held too close to the Count Out
Basin prior to being scanned in.
Press DECLINE and the system will go back to the previous counts and continue. Before pressing
DECLINE, be sure to remove the detected sponge(s) from the vicinity of the Count Out Basin or the
system will continue to trigger the Broken Protocol warning.
• ACCEPT
Accepting is the proper action when a sponge(s) that was not scanned in was intentionally discarded
into the Count Out Basin. This could be the result of an emergency situation where time did not allow
for the sponges to first be scanned in before they were used.