ABSTRACTS
Threats Are Impacting and Harming Your Employees and Those You Serve: How to Decontaminate the Environment Without Leaching Clinician Energy, Resources, and TimeAuthor: Ward Eggli | | Associate Authors: Melissa Balinsky
Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, cleaning and disinfection of the ambulance moved from a “should” or a recommendation to a life-saving essential service. The assumption had to be that everything was contaminated after every call. The additional burden on the paramedics took an emotional and physical toll. Using automated technology for disinfection reduced the time paramedics had to be in the ambulances, the anxiety associated with being in the contaminated space, and allowed more time for self-care. Method The recommended or mandated activities for ambulances during the pandemic included disinfecting all surfaces in the patient compartment, both high and low touch, after every call. This was added to the cleaning and changing/replenishing of supplies. The efficacy of disinfecting products can only be ensured by respecting the wet contact time for the relevant pathogen indicated on approved labels. For COVID-19 approved products’ contact time ranged from .25–10 minutes. An analysis of surfaces identified across jurisdictions showed there should be 95 minutes of cumulative disinfection, assuming a 5-minute contact time, after each call. PPE was required for protection from pathogens and OSHA requirements. To reduce this burden, potential solutions were evaluated against 5 criteria, including cost, ease-of-use, safety, efficacy, and time. Discussion Employment growth for paramedics is expected to be higher than the average for all occupations. Education and licensing requirements impose barriers for seekers coming from other occupations or immigration. Also, the work is demanding physically, psychologically, and requires extensive availability. In addition to typical shift work demands, long working hours and overtime are common. This explains why many workers are expected to seek employment in other occupations. To avoid exacerbating the labor situation, it is imperative that services seek ways to reduce nonclinical demands on staff wherever possible. Automation of tasks, including disinfection reduces nonclinical demands, can improve IC outcomes overall and can help improve staff well-being. Results The resulting processes included automated disinfection of hard surfaces. This reduced pathogen exposure time and increased time available for recuperation. Anecdotally, staff reported feeling “safer and cared for by our service,” and that “they had a say in the [infection control (IC)] practices,” which improved overall.
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