UPDATE FROM THE CANADIAN STANDARDS ASSOCIATION (CSA)

For more than 40 years, CSA has been creating standards for the health care field. While setting minimum requirements for safety, these standards have also helped enhancing consistency and efficiency in our professional practices at the national level. Ultimately, the safety of our patients and workers has been positively impacted.

As many already know, the Technical Committee on Kidney Dialysis (and its 25 members representing the different regions and disciplines) has been working hard over the last 12 months at creating a new standard specific to the safe installation for home dialysis, including peritoneal dialysis. The draft document was recently posted on CSA's website for public review and comment before moving to the next step. A number of valuable comments were reviewed and added to the current draft. CSA editors are now reviewing the draft standard. We hope to have a published document for presentation at the CANNT 2010 conference in Toronto this fall.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the different stakeholders for their on-going financial support throughout the development of this new standard without which our project would not have been possible (listed below in alphabetical order);

Baxter, BHC Medical, CANNT, CardioMed Supplies
Charles River, Chief Medical, Covidien, Fresenius Medical Care, Gambro
MarCor Purification and Siemens Water Technologies

In addition to this very important project, the members have also recognized the need for harmonization of current CSA dialysis related standards to the international standards. While the world is getting smaller and companies becoming more global, harmonization of standards is simply not an option anymore. To that end, the committee is in the process of adopting international water treatment and dialysis standards. These new standards will have an important impact on the requirements for water quality in terms of bacteriology and endotoxin testing. Stay tuned for more information ...

We wish all of readers a very nice and enjoyable summer.

Gil Grenier
Chair, CSA Technical Committee on Kidney Dialysis