OPERATING ROOM “Technologies such as ultraviolet germi-


cidal irradiation, electrostatic sprayers or foggers with hydrogen peroxide or other germicides, and continuous active disin- fectants (CAD) act as adjuvants to current cleaning and disinfection practices,” Rea continued. “No-touch technologies fi ll the void that often occurs with manual cleaning and disinfection, but they do not replace the need for manual cleaning and disinfec- tion. Evidence shows that manual cleaning and disinfection is a defi ciency throughout healthcare, which can lead to transmission of pathogens to others.”¹,


² Remain vigilant


Rea advises healthcare organizations to continually evaluate their current environ- mental cleaning and disinfection practices. “Some facilities may have adopted some


of these new cleaning and disinfection strategies during the initial chaos of the


First person perspective:


pandemic that may now not be appropri- ate for use,” she said. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted some technologies temporary emergency use authorizations, and these allowances may no longer be valid due to inability to prove effi cacy or other factors.” ³


But she compliments healthcare orga- nizations for adopting favorable infection prevention habits during the pandemic. “They became accustomed to performing more frequent hand hygiene, which is instrumental in decreasing transmission of potential pathogens,” Rea said. “Healthcare staff also became more proactive in wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). An emphasis on proper PPE use based on the potential exposure risk is an important aspect of infection prevention, which is also known as standard precau- tions. Now we will likely see more staff routinely wearing masks and eye protection


whenever they have a patient with respira- tory symptoms.” While healthcare pro-


viders largely followed hygiene protocols recom- mended by the CDC that specifi ed the frequency of use of cleaning supplies and PPE, they also fol- lowed public sentiment,


Deborah Chung


according to Deborah Chung, North America Marketing Manager – Healthcare, Essity Professional Hygiene, which manu- factures Tork-branded products. “The pandemic put a spotlight on effec- tive hygiene practices for the general public – and even more so for those in healthcare – with hand hygiene and surface cleaning at the forefront because we know clean hands and surfaces can help prevent infec- tion spread and save lives,” Chung noted.


Page 22


Decontamination, hygiene challenges we face may be of our own making by Brian Donahue


Have you ever sat in a medical waiting room (e.g., urgent care, lab, pediatrician, ER, etc.)? The person to the left of you may have worn the same mask for two weeks, proven by the stains and fraying of fabric. The person to your right is coughing and rubbing their eyes. The staff call you up to fi ll out forms (which


really should be done electronically in the 21st century), directing you to use a pen from the


“clean cup” and then depositing into the “dirty cup.” Then they hand you a clipboard with some papers that was sitting on the desk or counter, having been handled by literally every single person with the insurance card. Then you sit in a dirty chair, with dirty arm-


rests, watching TV or Netfl ix on your own smart phone (clean by your standards). You place the clipboard back on the same countertop. After being called back, you pass several clinicians and corridors whose walls, fl oors and air may rarely be cleaned – if ever, while being led to a patient room with furniture that also may rarely be cleaned – if ever. This makes me doubt the protocols by which I am forced to abide. Don’t get me wrong, I abide, but without a voice. By the way, my dentist has me in my car, calls me up, no touch entry, no forms to fi ll out. How can a dentist be that effi cient? An approach with total staff buy-in with a differ- ent set of care incentives and less complex shuffl ing of paper? Masks are gross and ineffective. They are only meant to be worn for a few minutes, not


hours. But without a better solution I suppose we need to continue with them, same goes for better hand sanitizer. We need better solutions that don’t burn or smell or are sticky or wear off in 30 seconds. We need HEPA and UVC air cleaners – not just misters, humidifi ers and sprayers. We need UVC surface cleaners to assist with the “z-wip- ing” done often with a dirty rag. We need UVC cabinets to clean keyboards, clipboards, tablets, phones, glasses, cups, lanyards and small medi- cal equipment like cuffs and stethoscopes. We need more studies on the electrostatic, ionization, dry hydrogen peroxide and ozon- ating devices that have taken over people’s imaginations. Good, fast and cheap: You can’t have all three. If it were that easy to kill bugs, where were these novel solutions 10 years ago?


The pathogens are not going away, and


we need better innovations and overlapping cleaning strategies to safeguard spaces, people and everywhere in between. Vaccines help and should continue, but the tools to control air, surfaces and objects are within reach and must expand in their application and acceptance. The trade-off of having these items regulated loosely by the EPA rather than the more stringent FDA results in poor effi cacy (and therefore disbelief) and outrageous costs (and unaffordability).Op- portunism is rampant in the space – especially the UVC space – and ethical companies can do little but sit and watch prospective custom- ers make poor decisions based on acquisition cost. There is a disconnect between clinical effi cacy and fi nancial affordability – we see it in how RFPs are issued, especially in the gov- ernment space (e.g., schools, etc.). The buyer doesn’t have time or isn’t interested to learn or be shown massively dif- ferentiated technology. Rules are fol- lowed and money is wasted. “These are the specs, and the lowest bidder wins.” But if the specs are unproven claims with glaring inadequacies, and the buyer is inaccessible due to COVID work restrictions and email quarantines, then how does one communicate truth about options?


EIR 1000 and Zeus Smart UV-C cabinet (inset) from Finsen Technologies


Brian Donahue serves as Director, Sales & Corporate Accounts, Finsen Technologies Ltd.


20 September 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com

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