Our patients depend on the safe and effective use of medical devices and equipment in clinical settings. This is often a subject overlooked in infection prevention and control, but has become an area of increased attention. Challenges can include lower (yet substantial) risks with general environmental surfaces/equipment to even higher risks with interventional or surgical devices, many of which remain within the patient for shorter, longer, or even indefinite times. Devices can be classified by the Spaulding system as being non-critical, semi-critical or critical. The correct management of these infection prevention risks are essential, irrespective if the facility is challenged in resources or is well-resourced. The challenge is to define and ensure best practices. This presentation will focus on higher risk or critical devices. These, by definition, are required to be sterile but can be further defined as single use or reusable devices. This presentation will first challenge your knowledge on defining what sterile means right to the point of patient contact. Let's identify how you can ensure that they are sterile. We will consider the challenges with both single-use and reusable devices that will contribute to the other decontamination perspectives presented by colleagues in this session to ensure the devices are safely used. Come to learn and to share experiences.