What are healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)? How do they affect patients in hospitals and other healthcare facilities? Can HAIs be prevented? The accompanying infographic, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs): Are You at Risk?, was created to answer those questions.
HAIs are infections that are acquired in hospitals and other healthcare settings. The infographic describes the four most common HAIs, how they happen, and how many patients are affected each year. Generally, HAIs are caused by germs entering the body in an area in which surgery took place, or through a tube or other device that enters the body. The germs can be transmitted through the patient’s own skin, healthcare workers or visitors, or even through the facility’s water or ventilation systems.
When a patient contracts an infection in the hospital, he or she requires additional treatment and a lengthier stay. While some patients have died from HAIs that do not respond to treatment by antibiotics, HAIs may be preventable. Healthcare facilities and workers can take steps to help prevent the transmission of germs, and patients and their families can take actions to help reduce their susceptibility.
In addition to improved hygiene and appropriate antibiotic use, some environmental testing procedures are specifically designed to help prevent surgical site infection (SSI) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
SSI prevention includes undertaking periodic air exchange rate and positive room pressure measurements. Air exchange is the time it takes to replace the stagnant room air with fresh outside air. Positive room pressure ensures that the air from the outside corridor does not flow into the clean OR environment.
Ventilator patients are among the most immunosuppressed in a hospital. VAP prevention includes periodic contaminant testing (particulates and moisture) of the piped oxygen and medical air systems. Ventilators are supplied by a mixture of these two pressurized gases at up to 170 LPM.
Read the infographic to learn more about this important topic, find out who is most at risk, and learn what can be done to help prevent healthcare-associated infections. Rest assured that healthcare faculties are making every effort to help prevent these infections and protect the patients that rely on their care.
Infographic created by Evergreen Medical Services, Experts in Medical Gas Verification Testing
