We have had several enquiries about appropriate hygiene on first aid courses with the recent ‘COVID-19’ outbreak. ‘Coronavirus’ is actually a large family of viruses that includes the common cold. COVID-19 is a new (novel) virus that was first discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The exact mechanism of how COVID-19 spreads is understandably not yet proven, but it is very likely spread by the same mechanisms as others in the Coronavirus family. The virus is most likely spread in small droplets created when someone sneezes or coughs. These can spread up to 2 meters. If you cough on your hands, you are likely to contaminate everything you touch. If someone else then touches their mouth/food, picks their nose or wipes their eye with a contaminated hand, they can contract the virus. Follow this government advice to see if there is a risk that you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19. While the chance of being infected is still very low, there are a few sensible things you can do to protect yourself and others. To protect yourself Frequently wash your hands or use a sanitiser gel. Do not touch your mouth, nose or eyes unless you have just washed your hands. The World Health Organisation (WHO) say that there is no evidence that wearing a face mask in public protects you, although this is a wise precaution if you are in close contact (e.g. caring for) someone with a respiratory illness and fever. The patient should also wear a surgical mask if able. The exact time that COVID-19 can survive outside the body is not yet proven, but coronaviruses cannot usually live for more than a few hours outside of the body, so the WHO and the NHS say it is highly unlikely coronavirus can be spread through packages or products received from affected countries.
IMPORTANT CPR MANIKIN HYGIENE ADVICE: The majority of resuscitation manikins have features that help prevent the spread of infection (including respiratory infections such as COVID-19). Here are the options that can be used for manikin hygiene: Alcohol Wipes : MUST be used on the manikin to sanitise the face between learners. An emphasis should be placed on scrubbing the mouth area of the manikin. The chest, nose and forehead of the manikin can be wiped too if the possibility of ‘hand to hand’ transmission is a concern. Two brands of alcohol wipes are azo wipes and manikin wipes. Trionic wipes: are designed to prevent the build-up of invisible ‘biofilm’ on the manikin surface (that alcohol alone does not prevent) and should be used, with an emphasis on scrubbing after every learning session. Trionic wipes take longer to dry so they are not suitable for use between learners practising. CPR Face Masks: For maximum protection we recommend to use wipes and issue each learner with a face shield. Filter face shields are available on a roll for CPR training. They don’t offer complete bio-protection, but they will give a high level of safety when combined with wipes and a manikin that has a one-way valve (see below). Face shields with valves offer the best protection but are slightly more expensive. An obvious advantage to a learner using a face shield in practise is that they are familiar with using one if they ever need to give CPR for real. If a learner re-uses a facemask for repeated CPR practise, they should ensure that the face mask is placed on the manikin same way around each time (so they blow into the same side of the mask each time). Credits: Qualsafe Awards G.Chapman
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