The Importance of PPE - Coronavirus Edition

Healthcare professionals rely on personal protective equipment every single day to protect themselves and their patients from the spread of germs and infectious diseases. But now, with the coronavirus pandemic spreading like wildfire, PPE is more important than ever.

Now, healthcare professionals are seeing the real risk of failure to use PPE, rather than discussing risk as a hypothetical worst-case scenario. Healthcare workers are now the most at-risk population for coronavirus simply because they see so many infected patients. 

Worse, when healthcare workers do get sick, their constant exposure to sick patients means that their viral load will be much higher than the average person and they face a far greater risk of incapacitating or fatal infections. 

In light of the current dangers, we’re taking a closer look at PPE – coronavirus edition. Here are some of the most essential forms of PPE and what they do to protect your workers during the pandemic.

Face Masks

The key feature of the coronavirus is respiratory symptoms, such as dry coughing, and it spreads primarily through saliva droplets or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. This is why masks (and even custom plexiglass sneeze guards) are essential – for the infected and those around them.

While it does help to cover your cough or sneeze and face away from others, covering your mouth with your elbow or sleeve does not fully contain saliva droplets flung into the air. A face mask keeps saliva and discharge completely contained, protecting those around you.

In addition, face masks protect healthy individuals by preventing them from breathing in saliva droplets of an infected person.

The most efficient and effective masks are N95 respirators, which must be fitted to the individual wearer. These are also difficult to acquire at the moment because they’re in high demand, and should only be worn by medical personnel. The same goes for surgical masks, which must now go through decontamination to be reused because of severe shortages.

To help conserve resources for medical personnel, non-medical workers should wear cloth face masks.

Gloves

According to the National Institutes of Health, coronavirus can stay stable on surfaces for several hours, similar to the original SARS virus. On plastic and stainless steel, for example, scientists found viable traces of COVID-19 two to three days after exposure. And because coronavirus is a virus (and thus isn’t exactly alive) you cannot necessarily kill the virus by disinfecting surfaces the way you would kill germs.

Safety gloves are critical PPE because they prevent your hands from being exposed to the virus on surfaces. We use our hands for everything, and because the virus can live without a host for quite some time, it’s astonishingly easy to spread the virus via touch.

Granted, touching someone with infected gloves is no better than touching them with your bare hands, but gloves do protect the wearer from exposure – as long as you remove and dispose of them properly.

Understanding PPE for the Coronavirus

We understand that this is a difficult time for many workers, especially healthcare providers. We hope to be a safety resource during this period. Share this PPE – coronavirus guide with your workers as part of safety training.

How to Use Hand Sanitizer

By now, you’ve seen guidelines for washing your hands with soap and water. Scrub for 20 seconds. Pay attention to your thumbs and fingernails. Don’t touch the faucet once your hands are clean, and use a clean towel.

The emphasis on using regular soap and water is no accident. It’s the best way to get rid of germs of all kinds, and when done correctly, it’s effective against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

You should wash your hands regularly, especially after spending time in public, before preparing food or eating, and after you sneeze, cough, or blow your nose.

But you may not always have access to hand soap and a sink. In a pinch, hand sanitizer can be a convenient alternative.

To use hand sanitizer effectively against the coronavirus, you need the right type, amount, and application method.

Choose the Right Hand Sanitizer

Because the COVID-19 pandemic has made some name-brand sanitizers harder to find, you may see new brands on store shelves. Before putting a bottle in your cart, read the product label.

You should choose an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

The Food and Drug Administration has also advised against hand sanitizers that contain methanol, a substance that can be toxic when rubbed into skin. Some hand sanitizers are labeled as containing ethanol or ethyl alcohol but actually contain methanol. You can use the FDA’s searchable database to make sure your hand sanitizer brand isn’t one of the offenders.

In addition, the FDA has not approved any hand sanitizers, so steer clear of brands labeled “FDA-approved.”

Homemade hand sanitizer is not recommended. If it’s not made correctly, hand sanitizer can be ineffective or even harmful to your skin.

Use the Right Amount of Hand Sanitizer

One mistake many people make is using too little hand sanitizer, especially if your dispenser doesn’t provide enough in one squeeze.

The World Health Organization recommends applying a “coin-sized amount” of gel. In other words, you need enough hand sanitizer to cover both sides of your hands and between your fingers – just as you do with hand soap.

Apply Hand Sanitizer Correctly

After applying the gel, rub it in thoroughly. Pay attention to the back of your hands, thumbs, and between your fingers. Like washing your hands at a sink, this process should take about 20 seconds.

When you’re done, your hands should be dry. Don’t wipe or rinse off the gel.

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Storing Hand Sanitizer

Chances are, you’re using more hand sanitizer these days than ever before. But sanitizer does have a shelf life. Its alcohol content gradually drops as the expiration date approaches. If you have expired hand sanitizer, dispose of it and get a new bottle.

Store your hand sanitizer in a cool, dry location. Avoid direct sunlight and repeated exposure to heat.

When you return home, bring your hand sanitizer inside instead of tossing it into the glovebox or a cup holder. While there’s little risk of combustion, extreme heat can speed up alcohol evaporation—especially if air gets inside the bottle.

Hand Sanitizer Safety

Keep these safety tips in mind to avoid irritation or poisoning:

Never ingest hand sanitizer.

Keep hand sanitizer out of the reach of children and supervise their use.

Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth immediately after use.

Don’t handle fire or open flames immediately after use.

The Importance of Protecting the Public from Infectious Diseases in Correctional Facilities

There is no way to soften the statement that correctional facilities can be a haven for infectious disease. A wide variety of diseases can affect not only inmates themselves, but the thousands of employees, visitors and volunteers that come into contact with prisoners each year at the typical institution. 

While it is well understood that the majority of prison professionals and the jails and prisons themselves are diligent in efforts to manage the spread of disease, it remains a very real threat to the men and women who go to work in correctional facilities each day. The bottom line is that it is extremely difficult to effectively manage the spread of disease and simple sickness among a prison population that lives in extremely close quarters. 

Clearly, institutions have a responsibility to protect both prisoners and employees, but that responsibility also extends to the volunteers, clergy and family members - including small children - that enter the typical jail or prison each day. Dependent on the institution, all of these people are likely to come into some form of physical contact with inmates. These individuals then leave the prison, return to the community and are capable of spreading both serious and simpler diseases to their families and community as a whole. As such, it is vital that institutions offer proper, easy and efficient ways for employees and visitors to sterilize themselves, especially if they come into unexpected, close contact with a sick or infected prisoner. Communal visiting rooms, where dozens of family members and prisoners may gather in the same small room, is a smart place to store and offer any of the variety of kits that we sell at https://www.bravamarketing.com/health-safety/personal-protection-kits.

While we offer a number of kits complete with an array of items, PPEKits.com offers every correctional facility the opportunity to completely customize the items found in each pack. This allows the facility to customize different packs for different purposes. For example, the prison or jail pack for the visitors room may include simple sanitizers and disinfectants, while the pack for employees on the block may include not only sanitizers and disinfectants, but also CPR protection gear, facemasks and eye shields. Again, each of our packs are completely customizable when you purchase here on our online storefront.

NEW THREAT INTELLIGENCE REPORT: 100 DAYS OF CORONAVIRUS

The global spread of COVID-19 has created many new opportunities for threat actors since the novel coronavirus began gathering widespread attention at the end of 2019.

To provide a clear picture of how malicious actors are exploiting those opportunities, the Mimecast Threat Intelligence team analyzed key trends in activity over the first 100 days.

Increases in coronavirus- Related spam and impersonation attack campaigns are exploiting the vulnerability of users working at home, taking advantage of their desire for information about the coronavirus pandemic to entice them to click on unsafe links.

The monthly volume of all the detection categories reviewed increased significantly – by 33% –between January and the end of March 2020.

Spam/opportunistic detections (increased by 26.3%)

Impersonation detections (increased by 30.3%)

Malware detections (increased by 35.16%)

Blocking of URL clicks (increased by 55.8%)

This report reviews Mimecast’s detection data at various layers during the first 100-day period of coronavirus (COVID-19), commencing from the beginning of January 2020. This report will break down the period into an easily digestible weekly review of detections. This activity is then reviewed, and assessments made in relation to what the data tells us in relation to threat activity during this initial period of the virus’ rapid spread, and the escalating response of international bodies and national governments. At the same time recommendations are made for the efficient maintenance of cyber-security during this exceptional, and deeply concerning, time.

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IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF HAND SANITIZERS

 Hand washing with soap and water is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to loved ones. Many diseases are spread by not cleaning your hands properly after touching contaminated objects or surfaces. And although not all germs are bad, illness can occur when harmful germs enter our bodies through the eyes, nose, and mouth. That’s why it is critical to wash hands at key times, such as after a flood or during a flu pandemic, when germs can be passed from person to person and make others sick.

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Here are three key reasons why you should always care about handwashing:

1) Handwashing can keep children healthy and in school. Handwashing education can reduce the number of young children who get sick and help prevent school absenteeism.

2) Handwashing can help prevent illness. Getting a yearly flu vaccine is the most important action you can take to protect yourself from flu. Besides getting a flu vaccine, CDC recommends everyday preventive actions including frequent handwashing with soap and water.

3) Handwashing is easy! Effective handwashing is a practical skill that you can easily learn, teach to others, and practice every day to prepare for an emergency.

4) Alcohol-based sanitizers can reduce about 97% of the bacteria on your hands.

5) Proper hand hygiene can reduce absenteeism at work by up to 40%.

6) Employees who use sanitizer at least five times each workday are about 67% less likely to get sick.

7) 30 seconds of using hand sanitizer kills a much bacteria as two full minutes of handwashing.

8) Offices with a sanitation program report 24% fewer claims for hand hygiene preventable diseases.

9) Stop the Spread of Germs: According to studies, 1 in 5 people don’t regularly wash their hands. Of those who do, 70% don’t use soap. Providing hand sanitizer in key areas (including bathrooms and kitchens) makes it more likely that people will use it to kill harmful bacteria.

10) Promote Good Hygiene and Health: According to studies, 1 in 5 people don’t regularly wash their hands. Of those who do, 70% don’t use soap. Providing hand sanitizer in key areas (including bathrooms and kitchens) makes it more likely that people will use it to kill harmful bacteria.

11) Reduce Waste: As an extra precaution, many people will use paper towels to open doors when leaving bathrooms or kitchens. Placing hand sanitizers near exits makes it easy for people to defend themselves from germs without needing to create additional mess.

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Know more about your hand sanitizer

 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still highly recommends regular hand washing (with plain soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds) as the most effective way to prevent the spread of infection and decrease the risk of getting sick.

However, in this time of COVID-19 and heightened awareness of hand hygiene, a sink, running water and soap are not always readily available, making hand sanitizer the next best option, as recommended by the CDC.

Will any hand sanitizer do?

The CDC recommends using a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol. The US Food and Drug Administration also urges everyone to avoid using hand sanitizers with methanol (wood alcohol), due to the high risk of toxicity and dangerous side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, blindness and other serious, potentially life-threatening conditions.

Could I make my own hand sanitizer?

The FDA does not recommend anyone make their own hand sanitizer at home. If a recipe/formula is incorrect or if it is incorrectly made, buy hand sanitizer online can be ineffective or potentially dangerous, causing skin burns or other irritations.

Government organizations understand that demand for hand sanitizer is high and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Measures have been put in place to help increase alcohol-based hand sanitizer production.

Could I add alcohol to non-alcohol based hand sanitizer?

Non-alcohol hand sanitizers are not as effective as hand sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol. The FDA does not recommend adding any substance to hand sanitizers. Much like homemade hand sanitizers, adding alcohol to non-alcohol hand sanitizers increases the risk for skin burns and irritation. This includes household cleaning products.

Does hand sanitizer have an expiration date?

The FDA has designated hand sanitizers as an over-the-counter drug, which the agency regulates. All OTCs have expiration dates, and most hand sanitizers have an expiration date of three years.

How can I best store hand sanitizer?

Avoid keeping hand sanitizers within reach of children under 6. Young children should only use hand sanitizer under parental supervision. Also avoid storing it in areas that can reach 105 degrees, such as a car in summer.

HAND SANITIZER: A GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICE KEEPS YOU CLEAN & SAFE

 Hand Hygiene Practice is one of the Good Hygiene Practices. And using Hand Sanitizer is a good habit in hand hygiene practices.

Reference 

Good Hygiene Practices are the practices performed by an individual to care for his/her bodily health through cleanliness.

Good hygiene is important for good health, feeling good, comfortable and social welfare. It involves keeping your hands, head, and body clean so as to stop the spread of germs, bacteria and illness. Not maintaining your personal hygiene creates an unpleasant feeling and can affect your mental health too, can lead to insecurities and loss of confidence.

Cleaning your hands well and often is the most important personal hygiene practice that prevents germs from leading to infections and sickness. However, cleaning your hands in proper ways is essential in today’s polluted atmosphere.

Use of hand sanitizer is a perfect solution for cleaning your hands and it is important for the prevention of contagious diseases.

A clean hands count campaign says that healthcare provider must need to clean their hands as many as 100 times per 12-hour shift depending on the number of patients they handle. Everyone should know importance of hand hygiene and alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Some Benefits Of Hands Hygiene

Cleaning your hands is the most effective way to prevent the spread of infection. You can spread certain germs and bacteria casually by touching another person.

At many public places even by touching surface areas the germs get onto your hands and can make you sick. Hence, cleaning your hands without soap and water that means cleaning your hands by use of hand sanitizer can avoid these infections causing due to touching public place surfaces.

The unclean hands can cause diarrhea and spread some hand, foot and mouth infections.

The unclean hands can spread the flu faster. Germs can even get onto your hands if people touch any object that has germs on it. Because if someone sneezed or coughed on it or was touched by some other contaminated object. When these unclean hands are not washed off immediately the germs on it can be passed from person to person and make people sick.

The practice of cleaning your hands will also keep your child healthier and safe. Dirty hands can harm your child just by touching your child with infected hands.

Different Ways To Clean Your Hands

Washing your hands with soap and water is good practice of hand hygiene. However, only washing your hands will not kill invisible germs or will not kill 100% germs. Using hand sanitizer after washing your hands can make your hands cleaner and germs free. It kills the invisible germs, bacteria, and virus.

If at some public transportation services or during traveling there is no availability of soap and water. At that time you can cleanse your hands only by using hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizer is also used when there is no water in spare. When there is water scarcity. Hand sanitizer contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Alcohol rubs kill many different kinds of bacteria.

 

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5 Different Places Where You Must Sanitize Your Hands

In Kitchens To Avoid Food Poisoning –

Some people often start cooking food without cleaning their hands. This will cause food poisoning. Therefore, before you start cooking food must clean your hands with hand sanitizer which kills all the germs over your palm and results in the cooking of healthy food.