Cleanliness in our home away from home

[MasterIntubator]

Curious here.... how many of us clean our rigs and equipment each shift before starting our day? I'm talking about on the microbial level... How do you keep safe from MRSA, Hepatitis, E-coli, and other classroom words we can't see? Do you keep track of everything you touch during a call?
What cleaners do you use? What do you clean? How often?
Do other shifts reciprocate?

Here, we use properly diluted clorox bleach and wipe from the upper handrails down to the floor. Seat, handles, stethoscopes, BP cuffs, LP handle and knobs, Suction handle, radio mics, cell phone, MDT, steering wheel/dash/knobs, cot, pens, clipboard, and any object potentially touched by a gloved hand.
After 15 minutes of air-ing out, what is left is a neutral clean smell.... no pool smell. ( there is no better smell than neutral.. air fresheners are forbidden ).

.....each day on our shift after morning check.

 

[abckidsmom]

I do a wipe down in the morning, and at some point late in the shift for general cleanliness, and I wipe down anything nasty in between.

Monitor cables and the cot get wiped after every patient.

The bench seat gets a quick wipe after IV starts.

 

[Bieber]

I try to clean first thing in the morning after I check the truck, however depending on how early we get that first call it doesn't always happen until later on in the day. The monitor and cot get cleaned after every call, no exceptions. We use disinfecting wipes and spray. Depending on how dirty the truck is, we also try to wash it every shift as needed.

I could probably stand to do a more thorough cleaning of the inside of the truck after each call, getting the bench and counter. Some of the other crews I've relieved haven't always left the truck in the cleanest condition, including one crew that actually left a FULL urinal in the trash can. Needless to say, I was less than amused.

 

[MasterIntubator]

............ left a FULL urinal in the trash can. Needless to say, I was less than amused.

I have awaken folks from bed, and stormed bunk rooms for that stuff.... I hope you went nuclear on them.

 

[TransportJockey]

I might be the only one at my dept who does this... BUt when I start shift I do a truck check of our primary unit, sweep it out, mop the floors, run cavi wipes over the grab rails and such, virex the bench seat and cot and captains chair. I wipe down the monitor, leads, cuff, sensor, and pretty much anything else I might touch. My steth gets wiped down after every call, as done my phone in its case (otterbox) since I have to use it on calls (once a week my phone gets pulled from it's case and the case is soaked in bleach water for an hour while the phone itself gets wiped down). I also wipe down the monitor leads and anything I touch during a call after the call.

 

[Bieber]

I have awaken folks from bed, and stormed bunk rooms for that stuff.... I hope you went nuclear on them.

On one hand, it was impressive to see that kind of compassion from that particular crew (I honestly never would have expected them to have the decency to let a patient use a urinal), on the other hand, they'd failed to throw it away and had left it sitting in the truck for who knows how long.

My would have been stern warning turned nuclear after I walked into the station holding the urinal for them to see with a "wtf" look on my face and they decided to laugh about it.

Needless to say, it hasn't happened again.

 

[boingo]

I have awaken folks from bed, and stormed bunk rooms for that stuff.... I hope you went nuclear on them.

I did that once, oncoming medic next morning went to empty trash and got about 300 ml of cold urine down her leg.....I still laugh about it, but she still hasn't seen any humor in it.

 

[Simusid]

Our shift change SOP includes a full inventory, equipment check, battery check, medication check, clean all trash, germicidal wipe and a very light bleach spray (1:100) then mopping as needed. Not everyone does it but I try to.

 

[46Young]

When I get to work, I put my gear in it's compartment, log on, place my kill tags, and then use cavi wipes all over the cab, including the radio, all stethoscopes, and the cell phone in the back. I'll hit the bench seat and Capt's chair. I'll use a bleach solution on everything else later on, after our rig check. If we get a call right away, at least the things I may touch or put in my ears are clean. I take out the cot and turn it upside down, since there can be dried blood on the underside from a blown tamponade or whatever. The back gets mopped out as well. As far as other crews, it's hit or miss. Sometimes, after wiping just the bench or Capt's chair, I can see a dark hand print on the wipe afterward.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

At the beginning of shift I do a general inspection and such. Most of our crews a super good about cleaning the rig at the end of shift. I know it the rig is neat, the trash emptied and the deck spotless that the last crew cleaned well, so I don't sanitize the thing. I will do a general virex wipedown usually.

After each call I wipe down everything I used or touched. Switches, latches, equipment, pens, phones, radio mic, gurney handles, etc. I also sweep and swab the deck and completely wash the outside. The cab does not usually get cleaned as we have a very strict no contamination of the cab policy (if possible). No gloves, gowns, etc in the cab. If it was a nasty call, that gets cleaned too though.

And once a week management does a complete sanitize of the rig. Including the box, equipment and cab. B)

~~~~~edit~~~~~

By "I" I am of course referring to my partner and I.

 

[johnrsemt]

When I worked in a busy service we did a quick clean after every patient, and heavy clean in patient care compartment at least once a day (hopefully at start of shift, but depending on runs). A heavy pull everything out of compartments and detail front, back and outside once every 1-2 weeks.

here not so much: but some of our trucks haven't had a patient in them in over a year. a busy truck here is maybe 1-2 patients a week.

 

[DarkStarr]

every so often ill clean, depends on the calls and junk.. not gonna do a full clean each time someone breathes.

today, we cleaned outside and inside, including wiping down walls, roof, seats, anything i could get my rag on.

 

[46Young]

every so often ill clean, depends on the calls and junk.. not gonna do a full clean each time someone breathes.

today, we cleaned outside and inside, including wiping down walls, roof, seats, anything i could get my rag on.

Yeah that reminds me - after each call, the cot, rails, straps, BP cuff, scope, and monitor attatchments all get a wipe down. When I drop a lock, I have a chuck pad or towel between the pt's arm and myself. I had to send my bunkers out for decon after one call where I blew the tamponade. The sharp either goes right into the container, to another provider to check a BGL, or on the floor if I can't reach the bin. as such, I don't need to re-clean the upholstery.