How do I protect myself and others from COVID-19?
GOOD HYGIENE
You should always practice good hygiene by:
# covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or coughing into the bend of your arm
# washing hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap. During that 20 second period working the soap in around your cuticles, in between fingers and up around your wrists and drying them thoroughly.
# before eating or handling food
# after using the toilet
# after coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose or wiping children’s noses
# after caring for sick people
# regularly wiping benches, handles and light switches and any other surfaces you encounter, especially any objects that are coming into your bubble from an unknown source.
# practice good cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes
with disposable tissues, and wash hands).
Ministry of Health has confirmed that the main causes of contagion are:
# Contamination from close personal contact and spreading droplets’ e.g. sneezing, coughing and spittle to each other
# Poor hand washing hygiene
# Touching contaminated surfaces then touching your face.
Lets look at how to protect ourselves and those in our bubble!
CONTAINING THE MONSTER
If we are to contain this monster and get out of lockdown as soon as possible then we need to be extra vigilant about the basic do’s and don’ts.
In our work we are often required to use our own PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], but it is only effective if you know how to use it properly.
Do you know how to use a face mask effectively?
Here is a protocol on making sure you are donning and dobbing your mask appropriately.
When applying a mask:
# Wash hands with hot soapy water
# Hand sanitise
# Make sure the coloured side of mask is facing out
# When applying mask only touch side elastic straps with little fingers and hook over ears covering your face and nose
# Don’t touch the front of the mask with your hands except to pinch the clip over the nose to take on your nose shape.
# When the mask is damp or moist discard it appropriately, hand wash and sanitise Or if you are going to another room to treat a new client, discard, hand wash and sanitise your hands, reapply new mask, wash hands then hand sanitise again
# NEVER, when talking to someone pull the mask down and wear it under your chin or pull it up onto your forehead.
When removing a face mask:
# Wash hands thoroughly and hand sanitise
# Avoid touching the front of the mask
# Using your little fingers unhook the elastic loops from your ears. Allow the mask to fall off your little fingers into an appropriate bin without touching the front or rest of the mask
# Don’t pull the mask up over the top of your head to the back
# discard the mask in appropriate bin, don’t re-use
# After removing your mask, wash hands with soap and water, dry hands thoroughly, use hand sanitiser.
Everyone please remember that this procedure just isn’t followed to help contain covid-19, but also to help prevent the spread of all the other bacteria, viruses and fungi pathogens that we encounter on a day to day basis in our clinics.
Mask application should be an automatic reflex when applying or discarding
your mask in clinic.
