Sharonville Family Medicine

Although the WHO’s World Health Day was yesterday, it is still National Public Health Week! The theme for this year’s World Health Day was handwashing and food safety. It’s very important to ensure that our food is safe from the time it leaves the farm to the time we eat it. Help us raise awareness about the importance of healthy hand hygiene and handwashing to keep the food we eat clean and safe!

To learn more about World Health Day, visit Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing’s website and join their webinar here.

Yes handwashing is the gold standard, BUT if soap and water are not available, then we should use the SaniTwice® technique to our hands? You know the usual times and others are:

1. After petting any animals. Petting zoos in particular are a haven for new germs. No water, then SaniTwice®and you are safe.
2. Before cooking, handling food, and beginning to prepare a meal when camping, food trucks, festivals, traveling.

SaniTwice® Technique

If soap and water aren’t readily available, then you should clean your hands with sanitizer. Using the SaniTwice®method, you can clean your hands just as effectively as washing them with soap and water. To learn more about SaniTwice® and to download our SaniTwice® poster, visit our website here .

If soap and water are not available, how do we properly SaniTwice® our hands?

1.  Apply a double dose of sanitizer rubbing all surfaces of your hands.
2. Rub your hands vigorously, scrubbing all surfaces including the back of your hands, wrists, between your fingers, and under your fingernails 15-30 seconds.
3.  While your hands are still wet with the sanitizer, use a dry paper towel to wipe all surfaces of your hands to remove the sanitizer. Paper towels have been shown to remove additional loosely attached germs.
4.  Apply more sanitizer to your hands, repeating step two, and then letting your hands air dry to complete the “kill” for any remaining germs.

Infection Prevention is Everybody’s Business!

Thank you for helping to “Spread the Word not the Germs”!

Sincerely,

Dr. Will Sawyer

Will YOU help us educate the Public and OUR healthcare workers about the T Zone (“T Zone Teaching moment“)?! This simple infection prevention tool will help keep families, friends and staff members healthy and safe from infectious diseases INCLUDING Ebola.

I have made this a part of my life’s mission to educate EVERYONE on the importance of Hand Awareness(hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and cross contamination awareness) using my side kick, Henry the Hand Champion Handwasher! Henry the Hand has become both a national and international hand hygiene icon and “change agent” to help “spread the word not the germs”!

It started when my 4 children were very young and in daycare. Then in 2001 the AMA and AAFP endorsed the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness:

1. Wash your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating
2. DO NOT cough into your hands
3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands
4. Above all, DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth

This Ebola Outbreak in West Africa has been stirred up a lot of fear in the US, which is where we need your help in educating the public how they can keep from “giving” themselves an infectious disease, including Ebola, by not touching the T Zone. In both West Africa and the US.

We did a study proving that HCWs are NOT aware they are touching their facial mucous membranes.

* Read about the T Zone Research Study Here

Healthcare worker in Texas with Ebola says “I followed all CDC precautions”, but we do not know their personal hand hygiene habits around facial mucous membrane contamination.

Time to Re-Train adults about the T Zone!

Time to protect people, including healthcare workers (HCWs), from their personal hand hygiene “bad habits”. Start NOW to re-train your fellow workers to “Do Not Touch the T Zone” (facial mucous membranes of eyes, nose and mouth) which is the ONLY portal of entry into human body for all respiratory infections. You know that improved accountability to help them reduce their risk.

We offer HealthShields (through Henry the Hand Foundation, a nonprofit) in large quantities to help Re-Train staff and students to make us more “Hand Aware”!

With International Infection Prevention Week Oct 19-25 is a grand opportunity to “Talk to the Hand” to elevate the normative conversation across your facility to make your hospital both “staff and patient safe” regardless of the infectious disease in your facility. And in turn will help protect our family and community. Makes too much sense?

Enough is enough, and it is time for the CDC and Prevention to directly state to the public “Do not touch your facial mucous membranes (T Zone)” as it is the only portal of entry into human body for all respiratory infections and how a healthcare worker can contract Ebola, unless a needle stick.

Infection Prevention is EVERYONE’S business!!

Thank you for helping to “Spread the Word not the Germs”!