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One of the sectors that cannot function without contact is the health sector. Several people are worried about visiting hospitals and partaking in scans because of the global pandemic. While every other aspect can be avoided or taken care of digitally, the health sector requires direct contact. The primary concern of many patients is the cleanliness of the equipment and the safety of scanning procedures. So, if you’re in the health sector, we are here to tell you the steps to follow to ensure safe ultrasound and scans so your patients remain safe:
1. Practice Social Distancing
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You might not have an escape from visiting hospitals because your health requires you to. But even in such situations, always ensure to maintain social distancing. Keep a distance of at least 5-6 steps between one patient and schedule appointments every 20-30 minutes. This way you have time to sanitize and clean the room before the next patient enters. That reduces the chance of any infection being transmitted.
2. Sanitize Equipment
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Cleaning and sanitizing are not limited to changing the sheets on the beds or cleaning the couches. The equipment used for scanning patients must be sanitized thoroughly after every patient. They have to be wiped down with disinfectants to reduce the risk of the spread of the infection. Hospital staff has to wear clean and sterilized gloves and follow proper hand hygiene protocol before attending to any patient and after every patient.
3. Ready The Rooms
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Since the hospital rooms are exposed to many sick patients, it is vital that it is thoroughly cleaned and kept ready before the next patient enters it. Health experts recommend maintaining a time gap of 20-30 minutes between each patient because there is time to clean out the rooms. It is best to use fabric that can be easily wiped down with a disinfectant. Keep the room clear of any unnecessary accessories that might allow the virus to stay on them. Instead, maintain a clean room with only the required equipment and accessories that can be cleaned after every patient.
4. Single-Gel Packets
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Experts suggest that hospitals use single gel packets for scanning to ensure safety. They recommend non-sterile gel packets only for external ultrasound exams and suggest to completely avoid refilling a bottle or heating it. In case the gel packets are not viable, the bottles can be used only for external exams. Experts also say that while examining a patient, health professionals can use one hand to examine the patient while using the other one just to carry out other tasks like typing, dispensing equipment, and updating health records.
5. Don’t Forget The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
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Wearing a mask has become the new norm and in a hospital, the rule is no different. Always ensure that each person entering and exiting the hospital is wearing their protective equipment. A medical professional must use a surgical mask while entering any room to examine a patient or even interact with them. These disposable masks are meant to be used only once and cannot be reused. Therefore always ensure that they are changed when entering one patient room to the other. At other times, every person including the patient and doctor has to wear a respirator mask such as the N95 to ensure absolute safety. Apart from this, gloves and other protective gear is a must dealing with any patient.
With a global pandemic that has taken over, we have to be extremely cautious and take extra precautionary measures to remain safe. Our hygiene levels have to be on point and there cannot be any compromise on incorporating hand hygiene, sanitizers, and masks into our daily routine. With all these precautions, social distancing and avoiding unsanitary areas are also a must. No one knows what the future has in store for us. So all we can do right now apart from hope for the best is to stay home and stay safe.
