WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO FIGHT INFECTIONS? – ISSUE NO. 15

50 million dollars is being made available to help fight health care associated infections (HAI) www.cdc.gov/hai/recoveryact. It is nice that money is being made available to states to help in preventing HAI. The question is "What is your department doing to reduce HAI at your facility?" Have you had an in-service with your cleaning solution company to come in to review with your staff on how to properly wash hands? Does your staff understand when to use certain chemicals when it comes to cleaning? Why focus on the simple things like hand washing and cleaning solutions? As we all know, a lot is being made of this up and coming flu season. In fact, each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView. During the week of August 23-29, 2009, a review of these key indicators found that influenza activity increased in the United States. This increase in flu activity, as we all know, can have an impact on our work force and we need to be prepared. Now more than ever we have to make sure everybody understands their role. Simple in-service like hand washing and knowing when to use the right cleaning solution will help in reducing HAI.