Here is How You Can Disinfect High-Risk Hospital Surfaces with Technology

One of the critical issues that patients and hospitals face is keeping the hospital clean. The cause of infections from the hospital surfaces can be attributed to various facts like non-uniform cleaning practices adopted throughout the world, the quality of the products used, and the training offered to the hygiene personnel may vary from place to place. Although the proof states that hospital surfaces are a primary cause of infections, a few papers have noted the same with limited but conclusive evidence. 

Hospital-Acquired Infections: How Does One Contract Them?

Hospital-acquired infections are those infections that are not present at the time of being admitted to a hospital. They may be contracted from many places ranging from urinary tract infections, bloodstream infections, infections from surgical sites, and hospital-acquired pneumonia, to name a few. When admitted to the hospital, patients are not at risk but, in 48 hours, are exposed to various unsafe environments because of which they may contract a disease, despite an excellent immune system. 

How to Prevent the Spread of Infections in a Hospital?

Some basic practices are considered the best worldwide that can be employed in hospitals despite their scale. For example, some ask the people on the hospital premises to wash their hands constantly. Creating an infection-control policy is also another way to prevent the spread of infections. An approach such as this explains the type of patients who might contract a specific kind of disease in a very detailed fashion. It also contains finer details like the kind of patient who must be kept in isolation, patients with whom minimum contact can be obtained, and so on. 

While policies and protocols must be in place, places that treat infections and diseases must follow procedures like people giving gloves while attending to patients. This will at least prevent contact and the spread of diseases. Another way to safeguard patients who have caught a high-risk illness is to provide protective equipment to all the primary caregivers—keeping the patient’s room clean and providing food at the proper temperatures.

Role of Technology in Improving Sanitation at Hospitals

In the current age of technology, it is a boon that can be used to improve sanitation at hospitals. There are thermal scanners with cameras that perform almost three functions. One, they count the number of people walking in. Two, it visually identifies a person and their temperature. Three, it checks whether the person is wearing a mask or not. 

Thereby, if certain conditions are not met, the facility is alerted, and it helps prevent the spread of disease right there. Another latest invention is the robots which can be programmed to clean a particular place. This will help in cleaning places, thereby reducing dependencies on human beings. 

How to Disinfect High-Risk Surfaces at Hospitals?

One cannot be assured that every surface is 100% clean. However, with a mix of technology and human intervention, it is possible to disinfect high-risk surfaces at hospitals. First, this can be done by replacing regular cleaning liquids/agents in high-risk areas with a hydrogen peroxide-based liquid surface disinfectant. Another alternative that can be used is electrolyzed water and cold atmospheric pressure plasma. They not only act as adequate replacements but are more efficient as well in comparison with regular disinfectants. 

There are newer no-touch technologies, including aerosol and vaporized hydrogen peroxide. In addition, some devices continuously emit ultraviolet (UV-C) light, which is a pulsed xenon-UV light system, and the use of high-intensity narrow-spectrum (405 nm) light. All the technologies mentioned above and devices have proven that a significant amount of bacterial infestation can be decreased. 

Conclusion

Technology can help map the high-risk areas in a hospital. Identifying these zones will enable the disinfection process to prevent the surface transmission of these diseases. But it is also capable of handling the disinfecting process end to end. While there are umpteen devices in the market, hospitals must make a prudent business on whether to buy these products or outsource the entire process to a vendor who owns these devices. This is where RARE comes in. 

They aim to provide a cost-effective facility management service. Their area of specialization is healthcare facility management. RARE has a clear focus on infection control programs and the prevention of cross-contamination. Hospitals have one less thing to worry about with service providers like these. The amount of time, attention, and resources spent on cleaning and maintaining the premises clean can be devoted to patient healthcare. 

This will help provide the patients with better care and a faster recovery time. But will also ensure that the hospital’s safety protocols are constantly updated and are state of the art. This is imperative in preventing the spreading of diseases through hospital surfaces.