# Do You Sanitize Your Pulse Ox?



## Sasha (Feb 25, 2009)

I found this article about infection control while looking for something completely different and thought it was interesting. 
*Issues of infection control in prehospital settings*
Full Article:http://www.jephc.com/full_article.cfm?content_id=497


> Introduction
> Changing patterns in health care practices over the past 50 years has seen a considerable expansion of the procedures performed by paramedics. Intravenous cannulation, parenteral injections, needle thoracentesis and endotracheal intubation are now common prehospital procedures. Due in part, to the nature of these procedures, paramedics are now placed at a much higher risk of exposure to potentially infectious fluids in environments that are often uncontrollable.
> 
> The primary objective of all health care organisations must be focused on the continuing improvement and delivery of quality health care by using effective infection control strategies that are based on preventing transmission of infection. One of the main requirements to meet this objective involves the development of written infection care policies that are capable of being implemented at every level within an organisation’s hierarchy. This paper will examine the following two infection control issues:
> ...


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## Foxbat (Feb 25, 2009)

Thanks for the article. I finally have a legal reason for my OCD.  I don't like some people's "eh, nothing's gonna be sterile in prehospital environment" attitude.


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## reaper (Feb 25, 2009)

I clean my Spo2 lead, monitor leads and bp cuff after every pt. A lot of people dont. They just wind them up and shove them in the bag. That is a very sad thing!


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## AJ Hidell (Feb 25, 2009)

Everything gets sprayed down with disinfectant after every patient contact.


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## emtfarva (Feb 25, 2009)

Yep, after every call. And by the way anything that is sterile is no longer sterile after you open the package and expose it to the air, unless you are in a vaccum.


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## VentMedic (Feb 25, 2009)

Foxbat said:


> I don't like some people's "eh, nothing's gonna be sterile in prehospital environment" attitude.


 
Very few things are sterile in the prehospital setting. Sterilizationis the only level of asepsis that kills all microbes both pathogenic and nonpathogenic. Packaged products may be sterile but rarely are sterile gloves used to apply them. This is also true for inhospital settings but there are certain procedures that do require sterile gloves. Rarely if ever is a sterile field established in the field. 

Disinfection destroys or kills pathogenic microbes but are not always effective against viruses and spores.

Antisepsis/Sanitation techniques such as hand washing, alcohol, iodine and betadine to clean the skin for medical procedures, inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. They may kill or inhibit some microbes but are generally not effective against viruses and spores.


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## Foxbat (Feb 25, 2009)

VentMedic,
I know, it's just when people use this as an excuse to not clean things that should be cleaned, it kind of frustrates me.


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## Sasha (Feb 25, 2009)

Forgive the typo in the title. I tried to fix it, but it didn't work! :[ 

I hate that too, Foxbat. I'm not incredibly OCD and worried about picking things up from patients, but some people's comfort with germs really worries me!


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## VentMedic (Feb 25, 2009)

Foxbat said:


> VentMedic,
> I know, it's just when people use this as an excuse to not clean things that should be cleaned, it kind of frustrates me.


 
Apologies if it sounded like I was correcting you.

It is also frustrating when the hospital get bashed by EMS providers for restarting IVs or even when the ED greets the ambulance wearing masks and gowns.  Sometimes the ED staff are already anticipating the long haul and have a list of differential dxs forming from the report or even the NH already called ahead with something signicant like C-Diff precautions.


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## fortsmithman (Feb 25, 2009)

We are required to wipe down everything that comes into contact with a pt.  We wipe dow everything from the thermometer to the stretcher or stairchair (depends on what we used to transport).


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## sir.shocksalot (Feb 26, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Apologies if it sounded like I was correcting you.
> 
> It is also frustrating when the hospital get bashed by EMS providers for restarting IVs or even when the ED greets the ambulance wearing masks and gowns.  Sometimes the ED staff are already anticipating the long haul and have a list of differential dxs forming from the report or even the NH already called ahead with something signicant like C-Diff precautions.


Thats my favorite, walking into an ER after coming from a nursing home and seeing all the ED staff in gowns and masks. The ER then tells you, "didn't the nursing home tell you that this patient has C-diff"
"no, no they didn't, but thanks for letting me know"
"do you want to put on a gown and mask?"
"I'm an EMT, if its around, I have it already."


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## VentMedic (Feb 26, 2009)

sir.shocksalot said:


> Thats my favorite, walking into an ER after coming from a nursing home and seeing all the ED staff in gowns and masks. The ER then tells you, "didn't the nursing home tell you that this patient has C-diff"
> "no, no they didn't, but thanks for letting me know"
> "do you want to put on a gown and mask?"
> "I'm an EMT, if its around, I have it already."


 
Fortunately C-Diff will not hurt you but the next elderly, immunosuppressed or even someone doing a heavy course of antibiotics that you or your stretcher touches without proper cleaning will be at risk.


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## emtfarva (Feb 26, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Fortunately C-Diff will not hurt you but the next elderly, immunosuppressed or even someone doing a heavy course of antibiotics that you or your stretcher touches without proper cleaning will be at risk.


This is why I wash my hands after every call and use gloves.


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## sir.shocksalot (Feb 26, 2009)

emtfarva said:


> This is why I wash my hands after every call and use gloves.


I also carry a bottle of the sanitizing hand-wash, for those times when you can't get to a sink (ie car accidents and what have you)


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## AJ Hidell (Feb 26, 2009)

emtfarva said:


> This is why I wash my hands after every call and use gloves.


I'm glad to hear that this is happening.  Gloves weren't even common in EMS until the late 80s.  And as they became standard, too many people took them as an excuse to never wash their hands anymore.  I still see this continue to some extent.  I never see it in a provider who has actually taken microbiology though.  Go figure.


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## Arkymedic (Feb 26, 2009)

I clean it all after each call and at the beginning of the shift I wipe down the cables, spo2, glucometer, laryngoscope, and anything else that possibly could have been forgot about by the previous crew. 


Sasha said:


> I found this article about infection control while looking for something completely different and thought it was interesting.
> *Issues of infection control in prehospital settings*
> Full Article:http://www.jephc.com/full_article.cfm?content_id=497


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## seanm028 (Feb 26, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> I never see it in a provider who has actually taken microbiology though.  Go figure.



I took microbiology last semester.  I've used a paper towel to open bathroom doors ever since.


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## AJ Hidell (Feb 26, 2009)

seanm028 said:


> I took microbiology last semester.  I've used a paper towel to open bathroom doors ever since.


LOL!  Yep, we are the ones who leave the used paper towels laying on the floor next to the rest room door if there is no trash can at the exit.


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## Airwaygoddess (Feb 26, 2009)

You better believe I clean and decon all patient care equipment!!


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## CAOX3 (Feb 26, 2009)

There is nothing like getting in an ambulance after a day off and seeing dried blood on the ceiling.

I dont know if if Im more upset they didnt clean the ceiling or happy I wasnt on a call where blood got on the ceiling.

Yeah we have a policy where everything gets wiped down after the call is done.  You know with those super wipes that will find any cut you have had in the last year....Yeah those are the ones.


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## el Murpharino (Feb 26, 2009)

Alot of hospitals are going to disposable equipment now - SpO2 readers, BP cuffs, etc.  Can't say I blame them...although I'm not sure how cost effective it is.


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## Sasha (Feb 26, 2009)

> You know with those super wipes that will find any cut you have had in the last year....Yeah those are the ones.



The Cancer Wipes? The ones that are supposed to give you liver cancer or something if you don't wear gloves to use them?


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## amberdt03 (Feb 26, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Sometimes the ED staff are already anticipating the long haul and have a list of differential dxs forming from the report or even the NH already called ahead with something signicant like C-Diff precautions.



sometimes when i would go to the hospital to pick up a patient that is going to a nursing home, i see the precautions sign on the door. so i would ask the nurse what the patient has and they would tell me mrsa in the nares. so i would put a gown on and a mask and go in. about a minute later the nurse would walk in with no gown, gloves, or mask on. and they would look at me like i was crazy.


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## rhan101277 (Feb 26, 2009)

I have wiped down backboards and stretchers.  On many IFT calls the stretcher doesn't get wiped down.  Even though they are wiped down they can still get spores on them from you if you are sick, or from outside air if people are close enough.

What about changing your gloves if touching multiple patients?  Do you do that everytime? Or only when your gloves come into contact with blood or other bodily fluids.

I know back in the old days when doctors delivered babies, they just cleaned their hands with a towel and wondered why all of these women having babies were getting sick.

It seems when things are hectic people may try to rush you and say, don't worry about changing gloves etc.  What is everyone dealings with this?


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## Buzz (Feb 26, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> LOL!  Yep, we are the ones who leave the used paper towels laying on the floor next to the rest room door if there is no trash can at the exit.



If you're quick, you can sometimes make it over to the trashcan and back to the door before it closes--or at least while it's still open enough to get your foot down to stop it from closing. ^_^


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## amberdt03 (Feb 26, 2009)

Buzz said:


> If you're quick, you can sometimes make it over to the trashcan and back to the door before it closes--or at least while it's still open enough to get your foot down to stop it from closing. ^_^



thats too funny.


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## PapaBear434 (Feb 26, 2009)

We clean everything, especially after a dirty patient.  There are some exceptions.  If you have a twenty year old that says he feels a little sick...  Well, we'll change the sheets of course, but we MAY not wipe down the entire mattress.

But hands are dirty, dirty things.  We use them constantly to touch everything in the world.  

If you think about it, you should probably wash off your genitals after every time you use the rest room, not your hands.  If you showered that morning and changed your underwear, your nice clean unmentionables have been resting comfortably in clean, soft cotton.  Your hands, on the other hand, have been touching every doorknob at work, the pens chained to the teller window at the bank, the table at McDonald's that has been wiped down by an absent minded teenager making minimum wage with a dirty hand towel, a human resource file that has been passed to how many people at the office including Debbie who insisted on coming to work with the flu when she really shouldn't have...  

Those PulseOx machines better get wiped down, dang it.  Plastic clam shell with lots of crevasses being put on the hands of admittedly sick people can only be an invite to some horrible bacteria.  If they weren't so economically and environmentally unsound, I'd say use disposables all the time.


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## trevor1189 (Feb 27, 2009)

A few weeks ago I saw a disposable pulsox lead used, first time I have ever seen one. Didn't know there was such a thing. Pretty cool. Patients complaints were not consistent with anything that could be contracted so I am assuming it's that department's standard.


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## VentMedic (Feb 27, 2009)

trevor1189 said:


> A few weeks ago I saw a disposable pulsox lead used, first time I have ever seen one. Didn't know there was such a thing. Pretty cool. Patients complaints were not consistent with anything that could be contracted so I am assuming it's that department's standard.


 
It can also be pretty expensive.


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## trevor1189 (Feb 27, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> It can also be pretty expensive.



Oh, I don't doubt that...


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## VentMedic (Feb 27, 2009)

Here are a few examples for the cost of disposable probes:

http://www.medical-supplies-equipme...t/PPF/param/2065_0__1_true/product_search.asp


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## trevor1189 (Feb 27, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Here are a few examples for the cost of disposable probes:
> 
> http://www.medical-supplies-equipme...t/PPF/param/2065_0__1_true/product_search.asp


Ouch! That could really get costly. h34r:


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## BossyCow (Feb 27, 2009)

We use the disposable ones for the peds only. As far as disinfecting the unit... everything that touches a patient gets virexed.


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## itku2er (Mar 1, 2009)

Yes we do everything is wiped down between patient contact. I am big on infection control and I will be the first to jump your back side if I see you not taking proper infection control measures. In this day and time anyone not practicing good BSI is just crazy because you never know what you are getting into when those tones drop.


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## imurphy (Mar 1, 2009)

No No. you're all doing it wrong!

Just spray the PATIENT before they touch anything!!


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## PapaBear434 (Mar 1, 2009)

imurphy said:


> No No. you're all doing it wrong!
> 
> Just spray the PATIENT before they touch anything!!



There's been times I wanted to...


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## medic417 (Mar 1, 2009)

BossyCow said:


> We use the disposable ones for the peds only. As far as disinfecting the unit... everything that touches a patient gets virexed.



Hoep everything you guys touch gets cleaned as well.  I see way to many providors touching everything in the box but when they clean up they only clean the cot and the items that touched the patient.


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## BossyCow (Mar 2, 2009)

medic417 said:


> Hoep everything you guys touch gets cleaned as well.  I see way to many providors touching everything in the box but when they clean up they only clean the cot and the items that touched the patient.



No, we clean everything! I'm a bit of a freak on this point. I have even had the local hospital Infection Control supervisor do cultures on the ambulance to point out to our members where their cleaning falls short.


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## medic417 (Mar 2, 2009)

BossyCow said:


> No, we clean everything! I'm a bit of a freak on this point. I have even had the local hospital Infection Control supervisor do cultures on the ambulance to point out to our members where their cleaning falls short.



LOL.  Bet that was a real eye opener.  Ambulances are mobil petri dishes.  I scrub my ambulances and get pissed when I get in one and find bloody finger prints on anything beacause then I know ambulance is filthy.  I then spend forever cleaning.  Can we say OCD?


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## AJ Hidell (Mar 2, 2009)

medic417 said:


> Ambulances are mobil petri dishes.  I scrub my ambulances and get pissed when I get in one and find bloody finger prints on anything beacause then I know ambulance is filthy.  I then spend forever cleaning.


Immediately after the equipment and supply check and inventory, the next hour of each shift is spent completely cleaning and sanitizing the unit, inside and out.  Doesn't matter to me what condition the previous crew left it in.  It's still going to get a complete overhaul from me as soon as I come on shift.

Something that has been quite obvious to me is that, those with a microbiological education happily jump right into the cleaning effort without argument.  Those without it want to argue and whine the whole time about how "it's good enough".

A lot of agencies have a policy that the off-going crew is supposed to leave the truck clean.  Nonsense.  YOU are responsible for the equipment you are using, not someone who isn't even on shift anymore.  It has been the policy of any agency that I have managed that the oncoming crew is to perform this function, not the off-going crew.  If I find a problem with the unit during shift, it is that crew who is responsible, not some guys who have been home for four hours already.


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## emtfarva (Mar 2, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> Immediately after the equipment and supply check and inventory, the next hour of each shift is spent completely cleaning and sanitizing the unit, inside and out. Doesn't matter to me what condition the previous crew left it in. It's still going to get a complete overhaul from me as soon as I come on shift.
> 
> Something that has been quite obvious to me is that, those with a microbiological education happily jump right into the cleaning effort without argument. Those without it want to argue and whine the whole time about how "it's good enough".
> 
> A lot of agencies have a policy that the off-going crew is supposed to leave the truck clean. Nonsense. YOU are responsible for the equipment you are using, not someone who isn't even on shift anymore. It has been the policy of any agency that I have managed that the oncoming crew is to perform this function, not the off-going crew. If I find a problem with the unit during shift, it is that crew who is responsible, not some guys who have been home for four hours already.


That is a very good idea. I think that the off-going crew should wash the outside, and the on-coming crew should do the inside. I would also instill that after every call the truck get a quick but complete clean down.


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## medic417 (Mar 2, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> Immediately after the equipment and supply check and inventory, the next hour of each shift is spent completely cleaning and sanitizing the unit, inside and out.  Doesn't matter to me what condition the previous crew left it in.  It's still going to get a complete overhaul from me as soon as I come on shift.
> 
> Something that has been quite obvious to me is that, those with a microbiological education happily jump right into the cleaning effort without argument.  Those without it want to argue and whine the whole time about how "it's good enough".
> 
> A lot of agencies have a policy that the off-going crew is supposed to leave the truck clean.  Nonsense.  YOU are responsible for the equipment you are using, not someone who isn't even on shift anymore.  It has been the policy of any agency that I have managed that the oncoming crew is to perform this function, not the off-going crew.  If I find a problem with the unit during shift, it is that crew who is responsible, not some guys who have been home for four hours already.



At least an hour on a normal day cleaning but if I find blood I will empty every cabinet.    I get OCD about it.  I do not want to pick up something and find body fluids.  

The crew leaving needs to leave it clean and ready to roll.  But the oncoming needs to reclean.  Double the cleaning the less likely we miss something.  Oncoming crew needs to check every item of the ambulance.  If the previous crew failed to restock a major item restock it and chew them out.  They do it again you write them up.  Missing one bandage just restock it.  Oncoming crew is responsible for the unit once they sign off that it is properly stocked and cleaned.


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## AJ Hidell (Mar 2, 2009)

emtfarva said:


> I think that the off-going crew should wash the outside, and the on-coming crew should do the inside. I would also instill that after every call the truck get a quick but complete clean down.


Kinda mixed feelings on the exterior wash.  I agree that the off-going crew is in a better position for this.  If they get their pretty white shirts dirty and sweaty in the process, it's not a big deal, unlike the on-coming crew.  The problem I have run into is that the off-going crew never has the same standard of cleanliness that I do, so I end up re-doing it anyhow.

It also depends on whether this is a "System Status Management" (SSM) agency, where crews are on the road all day, or whether they are based out of a station.  If you have a home station, then washing your vehicle becomes a lot easier proposition.  If you are on the road right up to the point that you turn your truck over to the next crew, it makes it a little harder to accomplish.  That should obviously be taken into consideration when setting policy.

At one agency, which was SSM, they had a pressure washer at the office where shift changes took place.  So people get back to that office with only a few minutes to go before they are supposed to go off duty.  How good a job do you expect those people will do on cleaning the truck when every minute they spend on it keeps them from going home?  And can you blame them?  Rarely was the truck clean.  It was just wet.  They'd spray it down and call it "washed".  I'd rather have a dirty truck than a dirty truck with water spots all over it.  Just leave it.  Go home to your family.  Let me do it right.  Problem was, very few people would ever reciprocate that favor, so I'd be stuck washing the truck twice a shift and getting off late every day.  That's why it is so important to think your policies through intelligently and not just do what you've always done before without any solid reasoning.


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## bandcamper (Mar 3, 2009)

*Do we sanitize our Pulse OX?*

After every run we sanitize everything, blood pressure cuff, pulse ox, stethoscope, benches, lead wires, cot, floor, we treat it as if we had just had someone in there with MRSA,,,,so yes its clean...


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## pdibsie (Mar 3, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> Kinda mixed feelings on the exterior wash.  I agree that the off-going crew is in a better position for this.  If they get their pretty white shirts dirty and sweaty in the process, it's not a big deal, unlike the on-coming crew.  The problem I have run into is that the off-going crew never has the same standard of cleanliness that I do, so I end up re-doing it anyhow.



This is one big reason I like working on the EMS division of a fire dept.  The crew being relieved always gets up early and cleans the station and outside of vehicles very well.  I make a point to pick up after myself when I'm getting off and we do a good job cleaning inside after calls, but when I get on in the mornings I make sure my work environment is cleaned by me.


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## Ridryder911 (Mar 3, 2009)

pdibsie said:


> This is one big reason I like working on the EMS division of a fire dept.  The crew being relieved always gets up early and cleans the station and outside of vehicles very well.  I make a point to pick up after myself when I'm getting off and we do a good job cleaning inside after calls, but when I get on in the mornings I make sure my work environment is cleaned by me.



It would be nice, but usually my off going crew has had maybe 1-2 hours of sleep in 24 hours. Not nice to wake the bears...


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## JPINFV (Mar 3, 2009)

AJ Hidell said:


> Immediately after the equipment and supply check and inventory, the next hour of each shift is spent completely cleaning and sanitizing the unit, inside and out.  Doesn't matter to me what condition the previous crew left it in.  It's still going to get a complete overhaul from me as soon as I come on shift.



Dude, any chance I can work with you then? I've gotten so cynical over my partners that I don't even ask if they want to clean the truck. I just shrug my shoulders and go pull everything out and clean it myself since it isn't worth the hassle of negotiating a time with my partner to go do it. Knowing the people I work with, I'm slightly dreading the cleanliness and tidiness of the main unit at my current job for when I go back to work in a week.


The cleanliness discussion reminds me of a pearl of wisdom that I got off of some emergency medicine show (not sure if it was Paramedics or Trauma). One of the focuses of that episode focused on a HEMS unit where the crew said that they clean their aircraft top to bottom, inside or out every shift. After all, what better way to inspect the air worthiness of the unit than getting up close and personal cleaning it?


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## l14capri (Mar 3, 2009)

yeah--don't our patients expect our equipment to be cleaned?


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## JPINFV (Mar 3, 2009)

Our patients also expect us to have more than a few weeks worth of training, but I digress.


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## AJ Hidell (Mar 4, 2009)

JPINFV said:


> Dude, any chance I can work with you then? I've gotten so cynical over my partners that I don't even ask if they want to clean the truck. I just shrug my shoulders and go pull everything out and clean it myself since it isn't worth the hassle of negotiating a time with my partner to go do it.


Reminds me of one interesting shift I ran many years ago.  I was working with a guy I had never worked with before, and I didn't know anything about him.  He was the senior medic.  We came on shift, met up and introduced ourselves, then I headed out to the truck to inspect, inventory, and clean it.  I didn't see this guy for the next two hours.  He was in the station the whole time watching TV and socializing with the firefighters.  About the time I finish the duties, we catch a couple of runs.  Around lunch time, a supervisor pulls me aside at the hospital and says my partner is complaining that I'm an anti-social jerk?  I'm like, "Huh?  How could he think I'm a jerk?  We've hardly talked all day!"  The supervisor said, "That's the problem!  He says you completely disappeared this morning until you started catching runs, and nobody knew where you were!"  When I explained that I had been in the ambulance that entire time, doing all the chores myself, the partner got written up, lol.  Lesson here is, if you're going to complain about someone, you better have your own affairs in order first!


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## triemal04 (Mar 4, 2009)

medic417 said:


> The crew leaving needs to leave it clean and ready to roll.  But the oncoming needs to reclean.  Double the cleaning the less likely we miss something.  Oncoming crew needs to check every item of the ambulance.  If the previous crew failed to restock a major item restock it and chew them out.  They do it again you write them up.  Missing one bandage just restock it.  Oncoming crew is responsible for the unit once they sign off that it is properly stocked and cleaned.


Bingo.  Hold both accountable for any problems; if the ambulance is found dirty/missing items at the beginning of the shift, the off-going crew has some explaining to do.  Course, when it's found the same way halfway through the shift, it's on on-duty crew that gets nailed.  Only placing the responsibility on 1 crew just seems like a good way for people to get into a habit of not cleaning and/or restocking and half-assing it when they do.


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## EmsPrincess* (Mar 5, 2009)

Kind of disgusting that people wouldn't sanitize everything used on patients. I can't imagine re-using these things on people with different circumstances. Yuck!


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## epi1mg (Mar 5, 2009)

Pathogens from the hospital, ambulance, and patient's home can also contaminate your boots.  I like to wipe down my boots with an antiseptic wipe when I complete my shift. 

I starting do this after I was called to a patient's home where the rug was covered with cat litter, and the patient had a problem with uncontrolled diarrhea on the bedroom rug.


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## BossyCow (Mar 5, 2009)

Also a good idea for vollies to remember that you not only track home stuff that can infect your family but your pets. Watch where you put your feet, always.


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## medic417 (Mar 5, 2009)

BossyCow said:


> Also a good idea for vollies to remember that you not only track home stuff that can infect your family but your pets. Watch where you put your feet, always.




What us professionals do not deserve a reminder of this as well?


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## PapaBear434 (Mar 5, 2009)

medic417 said:


> What us professionals do not deserve a reminder of this as well?



I am more upset by the implications that vollies are the only ones absent minded enough not to know that.  I keep a bottle of bleach water in my car and spray down my boots after every shift before I get in my car.  

Dumb is dumb, and knows no professional or volunteer barriers.


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## medic417 (Mar 5, 2009)

PapaBear434 said:


> I am more upset by the implications that vollies are the only ones absent minded enough not to know that.  I keep a bottle of bleach water in my car and spray down my boots after every shift before I get in my car.
> 
> Dumb is dumb, and knows no professional or volunteer barriers.



It is sad that she did attack the volunteers now that I think of it your way.  While I don't think there is a need for volunteers anymore I do not attack their intelligence.


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## VentMedic (Mar 5, 2009)

medic417 said:


> It is sad that she did attack the volunteers now that I think of it your way. While I don't think there is a need for volunteers anymore I do not attack their intelligence.


 
Since BossyCow is a volunteer I seriously doubt if SHE would be attacking them. She is probably just reminding them since she is looking out for their best interests...as always.

Volunteers may leave whatever they are doing to go to a scene. Since they may go to more than one scene each day and return to their POV each time, it could be easy to forget about the shoes.

After 30 years, I have yet to wear my scrubs or flight suit when not on the job. I am totally disgusted by any healthcare worker that goes grocery shopping in uniform after a shift of patient care.


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## medic417 (Mar 5, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Since BossyCow is a volunteer I seriously doubt if SHE would be attacking them. She is probably just reminding them since she is looking out for their best interests...as always.
> 
> Volunteers may leave whatever they are doing to go to a scene. Since they may go to more than one scene each day and return to their POV each time, it could be easy to forget about the shoes.
> 
> After 30 years, I have yet to wear my scrubs or flight suit when not on the job. I am totally disgusted by any healthcare worker that goes grocery shopping in uniform after a shift of patient care.




There was a study many years ago about the germs, bacteria, whatever found on items not washed regularly like doctors ties and lab coats.  Those things were disgusting.  Wish I could find that study.


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## Sasha (Mar 5, 2009)

its sad people are just looking for reasons to get offended.


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## medic417 (Mar 5, 2009)

Sasha said:


> its sad people are just looking for reasons to get offended.




I'm offended you would say something like that.


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## PapaBear434 (Mar 5, 2009)

VentMedic said:


> Since BossyCow is a volunteer I seriously doubt if SHE would be attacking them. She is probably just reminding them since she is looking out for their best interests...as always.
> 
> Volunteers may leave whatever they are doing to go to a scene. Since they may go to more than one scene each day and return to their POV each time, it could be easy to forget about the shoes.
> 
> After 30 years, I have yet to wear my scrubs or flight suit when not on the job. I am totally disgusted by any healthcare worker that goes grocery shopping in uniform after a shift of patient care.



That might be the misunderstanding, then.  My service is a "professional volunteer" service.  We have regular shifts, regular station, regular ambulances, and run out of a city sanctioned dispatch alongside the fire and police services.  I forget that in most places, volunteer means local guys running out of their personal vehicles.


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## VentMedic (Mar 5, 2009)

medic417 said:


> There was a study many years ago about the germs, bacteria, whatever found on items not washed regularly like doctors ties and lab coats. Those things were disgusting. Wish I could find that study.


 
You don't have to. It is already in practice at many hospitals in many countries including this one.

Our hospital encourages scrubs and most doctors in direct patient care rarely if ever wear ties.  Lab coats are available with a daily exchange for any staff members that do wear them.


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## BossyCow (Mar 6, 2009)

medic417 said:


> What us professionals do not deserve a reminder of this as well?



Professionals are not generally driving to the scene in their POV and driving directly home to their families from the call. Professionals generally have a uniform or an opportunity to change clothes and utilize an agency infection control facility. There are not generally pets at the station either. 

The call in my mind that prompted my post was one where the pt had several cats that looked to be infected with feline rhinitis, a particularly virulent infection. I am careful about my patient contact, but was warned by one of the other vollies about the need to disinfect my shoes so I didn't carry the other bug home to my three cats.


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