Infection Prevention and Control 101.
1. Do not rely on one tool. Do not build a Maginot Line
2. Work from broadest communal protection down to personal protection. Reduce entry, design environments with reduced contacts, ensure rules allow for compliance.
1. Do not rely on one tool. Do not build a Maginot Line
2. Work from broadest communal protection down to personal protection. Reduce entry, design environments with reduced contacts, ensure rules allow for compliance.
3. The slices of Swiss cheese, each line of defense, have to line up for the pathogen to pass through the holes. Line up so many slices that probability makes this an impossibility.
4. Don't allow for work arounds and honor codes. We're all in denial about having an infection.
4. Don't allow for work arounds and honor codes. We're all in denial about having an infection.
5. Design is a tool for health. Layout can permit communication (or observation) without contact/exposure. Flows of traffic can be designed to reduce mixing. Natural ventilation and outdoor spaces can be maximized.
6. Fatigue is a danger. Success can lead to complacency. Failure can make infection can seem inevitable. Encouragement always needed.
7. Practice. It may seem obvious how to put on and **take off** a mask, gloves, glasses. It is not.
7. Practice. It may seem obvious how to put on and **take off** a mask, gloves, glasses. It is not.
8. We all make mistakes. Take a moment to check you have everything at each start. Have mirrors and buddies who feel free to tell you if you've made a mistake. It's a lot more important than telling you you've got lettuce between your teeth.
9. Administrative controls. It's crucial all regulations are feasible. Quarantine and isolation, especially due to workplace exposures, should come without penalty.
10. Plan for exhaustion. Some will have to carry the workload of others who are out sick or quarantined. Ensure there is redundancy in workforce and separate work groups, if possible, to avoid all isolated/quarantined at once
11. We are infected by those we trust. This means the colleagues we work with day in and day out are those we will let our guard down with. This always happens. Break rooms are the greatest danger.
Infection Prevention and Control principles apply whether it's an Ebola Unit in West Africa, a factory in Wisconsin, a school in North Carolina, a COVID unit in NYC, or the US government. Only the details differ.
12. and not a subtweet, leadership should always model behavior.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
