About three months ago, just before the Covid 19 lockdown, I went to the general hospital in Port of Spain, Trinidad to check on a patient who was a good friend of the family. As I was walking into the ward, I noticed two persons with mops in their hands leaving the ward. They were not dressed in personal protective equipment, they had no other pieces of janitorial equipment such as a cart or cloth or wipes or anything of the sort, but I can tell they were medical cleaners. I am a very observant person. The mops I can tell have passed their useful applications, they were dirty looking and the way the holders of the mops were attired, it said a great deal to me.

My membership with IJCSA and the exposure to learning materials associated with the certification programs have taught me a great deal. The programs have exposed me to sufficient knowledge to help improve the cleaning and maintenance of healthcare facilities in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.

After watching eleven (11) videos on subject matters covering a wide range of subject matters relating to healthcare facilities cleaning and sanitization. I better understand the why cleaning of healthcare facilities are so important. There was a time I held the concept that cleaners didn’t need specialized training nor did they have to have an education to clean. Research and development and exposure to training, such as the certification afforded by IJCSA, I are fully convinced that cleaning and sanitizing of healthcare facilities requires persons with expert knowledge to help prevent Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI).

Not knowing nor understanding the correct approached to healthcare cleaning can put both the practitioner, the patients and the general staff at risks. Not knowing what chemicals to use to kill infectious micro-organism can cause a pandemic the likes of what we have seen with Covid 19.

Cleaning and sanitizing healthcare is critical to the health and safety of humans. The Center for Diseases Control and prevention have estimated that over 99,000 people die from healthcare associated infections every year in the US. This is alarming and we are just talking about the US. You can imagine what that figure might be for data around the world that have lower healthcare standards. If we are wondering how important proper cleaning and sanitizing of healthcare facilities are, this data should bring us to some sense of reality and should make those of us who are involved in janitorial maintenance be conscious of this reality.

Now more than ever, I understand what my role is, as a janitorial services provider to reduce healthcare associated infections. I understand the relevance of hand washing:

• ·       After contamination of hands,
• ·       At the beginning and end of each shift
• ·       After contact with blood or potentially infectious material
• ·       Before and after gloves are removed
• ·       Between cleaning of new patients
• ·       Before and after touching wounds
• ·       Before performing evasive procedures
• ·       When taking care of susceptible patients
• ·       When handling infants
• ·       Before handling medication
• ·       Before and after eating or smoking
• ·       After using the restroom
• ·       When hands are soiled or touched contaminated surfaces

I understand that the difference of cleaning opposed to disinfecting or sanitizing is “the physical removal of micro-organisms and soil by wiping or scrubbing is probably as important, if not more so, than any antimicrobial effect of the cleaning agent used”, according to CDC. The CDC postulates that hospital infections are ranked in the first 10 as the most frequent cause of death in the US. Do you still think properly cleaning healthcare facility is not important?

Proper cleaning of Healthcare facilities consists of patients room disinfecting, understanding the different type of disinfecting, safety precautions, preparations, patients room daily clean, patients room daily clean – occupied, patients room daily clean- occupied/isolation, patients room daily clean – discharge, patients room – project cleaning and overall cleanup procedures. Understanding the different type of disinfectants and their applications and OSHA safety orientations for healthcare workers are critical given the mortality rate due to infectious diseases worldwide. Blood borne pathogens are no laughing matter.

According to CDC in order for infections transmission to occur, four conditions must exists simultaneously, they are:

• 1.     Sufficient amount of infectious material must be present
• 2.     Sufficient virulent of deadly nature of the disease must exist
• 3.     Available portal of entry must be breached
• 4.     Lowered resistance level of the worker

While most exposure do not result in infection, we can all agree that proper cleaning, given the risk of infection is necessary and should be encouraged by all. More importantly we should all be aware of the agents of proper cleaning that are trained and prepared to provide professional services in this and many other critical janitorial services. You can search and find reputable service providers here https://www.ijcsa.org/Janitorial-Service-Directory-Find-A-Janitorial-Service-JanitorialServices