Issue 2 - May 2011

From the Editors Desk

Welcome to the second issue of The Responder, Be Safe Paramedical’s official newsletter.

Winter is upon us and with it comes the nasty cold weather and adverse road conditions. It’s common to see an increase in the number of road accidents this time of the year and so I ask that you be extra vigilant while responding to emergency calls. It’s true that it is better to get to a call a little later than not at all.

The feedback from our first edition of The Responder was pleasing and we would like to thank our many clients and readers for their encouragement and acknowledgement. We once again encourage you to send in your ideas or comments which will assist us in ensuring that future editions meet your expectations. We also invite you to make use of the company profile and healthcare diary columns by sending us information on your healthcare services and upcoming training events.

Emergency vehicle and equipment hygiene has always been a rather contentious issue. It is interesting to note that there are a rather limited number of research papers available in the South African context. It is certainly not a developing country specific issue and international reports indicate that it is problematic even in the most well funded EMS Services. The Health Focus article in this addition of The Responder visits the issue of EMS vehicle and equipment hygiene.

Be Safe Paramedical is pleased to bring you some excellent specials on our range of quality crash bags. See the Be Safe Specials Column for details.

We introduce our readers to our sister company PAM Marketing in our Company Profile Column.

With that said, we invite you to sit back and enjoy this edition of The Responder.

Yours in Healthcare

Editor – The Responder

Product Watch

Be Safe Paramedical is extremely excited to tell you about our new improved crash/ jump bags. Our involvement in the pre-hospital crash/ jump bag market over the past many years has allowed us to truly field test our products. We have always believed that there is no better product test than to take it out on the streets where it can be exposed to the true life rigors of the emergency medical services. We have never seen criticism as a negative, but rather as an opportunity to improve on the quality of our products. We have invested a lot of time and finances into improving our bags and we are pleased to announce the following improvements:

All our new Jump Bags have been upgraded from a 600D material to a 1650D material.

The result is that the new material is almost 3 x the thickness of previous bags
The new batch of crash/ jump bags will have YKK zippers

The new bags will be arriving in June 2011...

Health Focus

Pre-Hospital Emergency Vehicle and Equipment Hygiene

The issue of ambulance/ pre-hospital emergency vehicle hygiene is by no means a new one. When perusing through a number of articles and papers, it is quite clear that it is an issue of concern in both first world and developing countries alike. In several reports, indications are that emergency services (EMS) worldwide are putting vulnerable patients at risk by exposing them to a catalogue of hygiene problems before they have even reached the hospital.

During the inspection of a well known ambulance service in the United Kingdom it was found that medical equipment that should have been thrown away after single use was ‘cleaned’ and re-used and some ambulances checked by the team had not been thoroughly cleaned and were ‘visibly dirty’. They also found that not all of the ambulances checked were carrying hand detergent wipes, which are considered to be a key element in stopping the spread of superbugs. Stretchers, ventilator units and defibrillators were also found to be dirty. The question is, “what is the state of hygiene in our own ambulance services here in South Africa?”

In research conducted South Africa in 2008 over a twelve month period it was found that above 60% of sites swabbed in EMS vehicles had bacteria present before cleaning and 50% after cleaning. In some instances, areas such as steering wheels had a greater degree of contamination after cleaning. This is a major concern as it indicates that there is a great potential for the cleaning equipment itself to be a major source of contamination.

Several factors significantly increase the risk of cross infection in Emergency Medical Service Vehicles:

• Lack of an ‘implemented’ emergency vehicle hygiene policy – A policy may look good on paper, however, how well is it implemented? How is it monitored? Are hygiene standards monitored by eye or by intermittent lab testing? Is there a continuous quality management process implemented which monitors trends and makes adjustments to current policy?
  
  
• Lack of regular hygiene training – All EMS personnel have received training on emergency service vehicle hygiene at some stage of their careers. Training however should never be a once off occurrence. Crews must be educated on safe working procedures and occupational risks to patients and their own health, particularly in respect of transmission of infection. Regular refresher programmes reinforce the importance of ensuring high levels of emergency vehicle hygiene.
  
  
• Workload demands prevent a thorough cleaning routine - In all notable research, heavy workloads and reduction in call to call times to improve response times have been given as the main reasons for generally poor EMS vehicle/equipment hygiene. This is a sad reality and a fundamental shift has to take place in how ambulance hygiene is approached which seems, at first glance, a pretty simple strategy to adopt.
  
  
• Inadequate access to disinfectants and cleaning aids – It sad to still consider this as a major factor in poor EMS vehicle/equipment hygiene as there has been a marked increase in the availability of EMS specific hygiene products.
  
  
• Over the past many years in South Africa, quality of service has largely been measured in terms of response times. It is true that call time and more specifically scene time, has been shown to improve patient outcome.

It is estimated that the cost of Health Care Associated Infections costs the South African health care system in access of R165 million yearly for additional hospitalisation days only. This is based on a conservative infection rate of 5%. If we were to look at a more realistic 15% infection rate, the figure would rise to above R500 million annually. In a health system which is already underfunded, imagine what an additional R500 million could do in terms of providing basic health care services?

PAM Marketing, Be Safe Paramedical’s sister company markets a highly effective range of infection control applications called Trigene. These are currently being used extensively in both the pre-hospital and in-hospital environments with excellent results. Additional information on these products, including a disinfectant procedure can be viewed at http://www.be-safe.co.za/index.php/news/36-ambulance-hygiene-rationale

Be Safe Specials

Be Safe 1st Responder Crash Bag – R650-00

Be Safe Intermediate Life Support Crash Bag – R800-00

Be Safe MediPack BLS/ILS Crash Bag – R650-00

Be Safe ALS Crash Bag (includes drug bag) – R1400-00

Be Safe ALS Drug Bag (large) – R500-00

Healthcare Fun

Healthcare Diary

LifeMed is a HPCSA CPD accredited training organisation located at 770 Michael Brink Street, Villeria, Pretoria.

They have submitted the following schedule for 2011:

Basic to Intensive PT Care & Monitoring
26 May and 22 November 2011 - 7 hour programme – 12 CEU’s (4 ethics) – R500

3 lead ECG Interpretation Course
31 May and 03 November 2011 – 5 hour programme – 8 CEU’s (0 ethics) – R400

ECT Protocol’s & Drug Refresher
30 September 2011 – 4 hour programme – 6 CEU’s (2 ethics) – R350

Paediatrics: Recognition & Treatment of sick and Injured Children
10 August 2011 – 4 hour programme – 5 CEU’s (2 ethics) – R300

Snake Handling and Identification
25 June and 12 November 2011 – 1 day programme – 12 CEU’s (1 ethics) – R800

Programmes start at 08:30
Maximum of 24 persons per programme

For more details or bookings
Contact Willie Lightfoot on (012) 330 9413, or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for bookings and further information.

Organisational Profile: Pam Marketing

www.pammarketing.co.za

Pam Marketing, Be Safe Paramedical’s sister company is an established B.E.E. company located in Cape Town, South Africa and services the Southern African region.

We are the appointed distributors of the Medichem International range of medical chemicals specialising in disinfection, sterilising and cleaning of surgical instruments, endoscopes and hard & soft surfaces in both the human and animal health sectors.

Pam Marketing was established in response to the noticeable void in the availability of medical chemicals in the South African health sector. The company has grown significantly over the past 5 years and is a noticeable competitor in this market.

Medchem International based in Kent, United Kingdom has been enhancing the infection control needs of numerous markets with a range of innovative products since 1992. Their products are sold worldwide within the veterinary, medical, environmental and military and government sectors.

Their products are manufactured under Quality Assurance Standards (BSEN ISO9001:2000 and BSEN ISO13485:2003 and some carry the CE Mark of Conformity. Their team of specialists and consultants also provide us with technical support and keep us informed of all the latest product advances.

Medichem products are quality products that are highly effective in the disinfecting of sensitive surgical instruments and surfaces without causing corrosion or placing health risks on personnel.

Pam Marketing is able to offer a range of disinfectant solutions that are particularly effective in the pre-hospital, emergency and surgical unit environments.

We welcome your comments and feedback

Contact the Editor

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Cape Town - Head Office
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www.be-safe.co.za