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Coronavirus, COVID-19 Disinfecting

Infection Control and Disinfecting Facilities

Cleanup & Total Restoration can assist your organization with infection control and disinfecting your facility with a state-of-the-art application process. Please visit our website at www.ctr-nw.com or call us at (208) 377-1877.

We have all heard a lot about the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and what you can do to be prepared for it. Seeing the long lines at Costco, or the bare shelves along the toilet paper aisle at Walmart has probably made you wonder if you should be doing more. Radio and TV stations are filled with commentary about how to avoid catching the virus, which age groups are most susceptible, and self-tests to determine whether you might be affected. Literally the whole world is talking about this infection.

The processes used to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus are not new. In specifying Coronavirus infection control methods to managers of long-term care facilities, which house some of the highest-risk populations, the CDC recommends that these facilities use the very same strategies that they use every day to detect and prevent the spread of other respiratory viruses, like influenza.

What are these strategies? First, on an individual level, thorough and frequent hand washing is an important step in protecting oneself. Second, on an environmental level, homes and indoor facilities can clean and disinfect surfaces and contents. Cleaning with soap and water removes many germs, lowering their numbers and reducing the spread of infection. Disinfecting kills germs on surfaces or objects, further lowering the risk of spreading infection.

Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects sounds relatively simple, but doing so safely and effectively requires a little know-how. It is important to select the right chemical product to treat the specific germs you intend to eliminate, and to apply those chemicals safely and thoroughly without causing harm to humans or animals that may later come in contact with treated surfaces.

If you have concerns about cleaning and disinfecting areas of your home, business, or indoor facility, CTR is ready to help you.

We have been in the infection-control business for years, and have a thorough understanding of which chemicals to use for various types of germs, and how to use them safely. We also use a state-of-the-art application process which electrostatically charges chemical particles, allowing them to completely wrap around the surfaces or objects being treated. Because the coverage is so consistent and effective, we can reduce the amount of chemical used, which can limit the amount of time areas need to be vacated.

If you have cleaning and disinfecting needs related to the Coronavirus, or any other virus or bacteria, please give us a call—we would honored to help.

We offer coronavirus sanitization services to Idaho (ID) and Eastern Oregon (OR). Including Boise, Nampa, Meridian, Eagle, Middleton, Kuna, Mountain Home, Caldwell, Twin Falls, and their surrounding areas

More information can be obtained on the CDC website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html

Certified Handlers

Our teams are certified in Infectious Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) and by the IICRC to properly provide these services, use EPA-Registered disinfectant solutions and the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Powerful Products

The disinfectants used are EPA-Registered, commercial grade disinfectant with a 98% kill rate.

Our Process

Our process involves wiping high traffic touch points (such as doorknobs and faucets) and HEPA vacuuming, when requested, followed by electrostatic application of disinfectant to airspaces and surfaces.

Areas treated by our method can be safely inhabited 15 to 30 minutes after application of the disinfectant.

Pricing

Customized quotes can be developed for customers inquiring about a more extensive application of disinfectant for all horizontal and vertical surfaces, in addition to high traffic touch points.

Pricing is determined based on square footage. Please call us today for a quote.

A payment schedule will be determined at booking.

Tier 1

Proactive treatment to areas with no known exposure to virus and/or
bacteria.

Tier 2

Treatment of areas with suspect exposure to virus and/or bacteria.

Tier 3

Reactive treatment to areas with confirmed exposure to virus and/or bacteria.

COVID-19 Disinfection and Cleaning Request Form

    Electrostatic Technology for Surface Disinfection in Healthcare Facilities

    Studies have shown that less than 50% of environmental surfaces in patient care rooms are properly cleaned and disinfected. Evidence strongly suggests that cross contamination of microorganisms from environmental surfaces is directly related to patient infections. High-touch surfaces such as bed rails, bed surfaces, tables, fluid poles, doorknobs, and supply carts have all been identified as having the greatest potential for transmission of pathogens. Current cleaning/disinfecting methods and procedures are critical to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, yet, nearly 100,000 people will die this year directly attributable to HAIS.

    Electrostatically applied disinfectant may assist in the battle against preventable infections, improve patient experience, while increasing hospital revenues.

    One out of every 25 patients who are admitted to a hospital will contract a preventable healthcare-acquired infection (HAI). According to a 2002 study, approximately 1.7 million HAIs occur in U.S. acute care hospitals each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths at a total direct, indirect and non-medical social cost estimate of $96-147 billion per year.1,2 Study estimates did not include the more than 26,000 U.S. facilities such as ambulatory surgical centers, skilled nursing, long-term acute care, hospice, or dialysis centers. Obviously these HAI statistics are dated and may be vastly underestimated. In April 2016, the CDC approximated that the actual number of deaths from sepsis were as much as 140% higher than those recorded on death certificates, or as many as 381,000 deaths a year. Sepsis is just one subgroup of the infections.3 Healthcare-acquired infections continue to occur at alarming rates in U.S. hospitals and represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. HAIs have a devastating impact on people’s lives, the national economy, hospital reputations and financial sustainability.

    STUDIES HAVE INDICATED THAT INADEQUATE CLEANING AND DISINFECTING OF SURFACES IS WIDESPREAD

    The physical environment is an important link in the chain of infection prevention and control. Contaminated environmental surfaces provide an important potential source for transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens. Cleaning and disinfecting of environmental surfaces in healthcare facilities is fundamental in healthcare facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines recommend that hospitals clean and disinfect all “high-touch surfaces.” High-touch surfaces include: bed rails, bed surfaces, supply carts, over-bed tables and intravenous pumps. Experts agree that monitoring terminal room cleaning and disinfecting practices in healthcare facilities is an important element of infection control programs. Still, studies have indicated that inadequate cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces is widespread with housekeeping wiping only 50% of surfaces targeted for cleaning.

    One way to break the chain of infection includes the use of innovative technology such as the application of EPA-registered disinfectants using electrostatic systems. As compared to traditional spray-and-wipe, fogging, and UV lighting, electrostatic disinfection application systems present a complementary and cost effective approach to healthcare facility environmental surface disinfection methods. Electrostatic spraying has been used in the agricultural and automobile industry for decades. In effect, a spray gun modified with an electrode charges the liquid particles, which are then guided to an oppositely charged target. Based on Coulomb’s law, an electrostatic disinfectant application system applies disinfectant more evenly to all surfaces. Coulomb’s law states that the magnitude of the electrostatic force of interaction between two point charges is directly proportional to the scalar multiplication of the square of the distance between them. The force is along the

    straight line joining them.

    Electrostatics is a proven technology in the agricultural and automotive industries. This technology is now being integrated into healthcare settings as a tool to break the chain of pathogen mobility. As an example, Creative Solutions in Healthcare owns and operates 46 skilled nursing and 13 assisted living facilities throughout the state of Texas. This top-50 ranked long-term care facility company uses electrostatic

    application technology in their efforts to prevent the transmission of dangerous pathogens. According to Gary Blake, President of Creative Solutions, this technology “has proven to be far more cost-effective than we ever

    dreamed possible. There’s a huge chemical cost savings, our employees are healthier – they’re staying at work, so our overtime is down in many markets during flu season. Our residents are returning home sooner from

    their rehab stays with us instead of going back into the hospital, and that’s gotten the attention of our managed care insurance companies and even from Medicare.”

    Most surface areas are neutral (uncharged) or negative. Electrostatic application for healthcare surface disinfection is a method of applying an EPA-registered disinfectant to a target surface area using electrostatic force of attraction. Using Coulomb’s law, these systems place a positive or negative charge on the chemical

    disinfectant as it leaves the spray nozzle. Because most surface areas are neutral or negative, a positively charged electrostatic spray application system optimizes adhesion and attraction (electromagnetic theory17). The dispersed droplets spread out more evenly and seek out the negative (-) or neutrally charged surface (neutral surfaces have the same number of protons as electrons – a neutral object can be polarized by a charged object and create attraction). The disinfectant is more targeted, provides more consistent coverage with less

    waste, and like two magnets, attracted to the oppositely charged surface with remarkable force.

    PATHOGENS CAN SURVIVE ON SURFACES FOR MONTHS

    Most common nosocomial pathogens can survive on surfaces for months18. These deadly bugs can become a continuous source of transmission. As such, regular, preventative surface disinfection is recommended. Wiping hard surfaces with contaminated cloths can contaminate hands, equipment, and other surfaces. Those involved in the prevention and control of infections require a balanced approach of cost and quality to improve outcomes. Existing healthcare disinfection methods including wipes, spray and wipe, fogging, and UV lighting all have their place in a multimodal IPC program, but may be ineffective or cost prohibitive for routine or comprehensive use. As environmental surface contamination and healthcare-acquired infections have become more defined, electrostatic disinfection application systems present a viable and cost effective tool in the environmental surface disinfection arsenal.

    The battle against nosocomial pathogens is costly. This has become even more pronounced in light of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. VBP rewards or penalizes hospitals based on degrees of care quality. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) bases hospital performance on an approved set of measures and dimensions grouped into specific quality domains.20 For 2017, The CMS has created a new safety domain that primarily measures infection rates. Yet, most infection prevention and environmental surface teams continue to use antiquated or cost prohibitive disinfection methods including labor-intensive hand-wiping or UV lighting. As presented, research studies have shown that environmental cleaning and disinfection play important roles in the prevention and control of healthcare-acquired infections. Though prevalent and widely used in other industries, electrostatic technology is now being adopted in the application of disinfectants. This new, innovative technology may assist in the battle against preventable infections, improve patient experience, while also increasing hospital revenues.

    References:

    1. Klevens, Monina R., et al. (2002) Estimating Health Care-Associated Infections and Deaths in U.S.

    Hospitals Center for Disease Control. Retrieved October 12, 2016,

    fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/hai/infections_deaths.pdf 2. Marchetti, Albert. Rossiter, Richard. (2013) Economic burden of healthcare-associated infection in US

    acute care hospitals: societal perspective. Retrieved October 12, 2016 from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3111/13696998.2013.842922?journalCode=ijme20&

    3. Epstein L, Dantes R, Magill S, Fiore A. (2016) Varying Estimates of Sepsis Mortality Using Death

    Certificates and Administrative Codes — United States, 1999–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep

    65:342-345.

    4. UMF Corporation. (2012) Doing Everything: Multimodal Intervention to Prevent Healthcare

    Associated Infections, Retrieved October 12, 2016 fromhttps://perfectclean.com/pdf/WHITE PAPER MULTI-MODAL_INTERVENTION.pdf

    5. Donskey, C. J. (2013). Does improving surface cleaning and disinfection reduce health care

    associated infections?. American journal of infection control, 41(5), S12-S19. 6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008) Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in

    Healthcare Facilities. Retrieved October 12, 2016

    fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/Disinfection_Sterilization/3_4surfaceDisinfection.html 7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2003) Guidelines for Environmental Infection

    Control in Health Care Facilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 12,

    2016 fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/guidelines/eic_in_hcf_03.pdf 8. Huslage, K., Rutala, W. A., & Weber, D. J. (2010). A quantitative approach to defining “high-touch”

    surfaces in hospitals. Infection control and hospital epidemiology, 31(8), 850-853. 9. Carling, P. C., Briggs, J. L., Perkins, J., & Highlander, D. (2006). Improved cleaning of patient rooms

    using a new targeting method. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 42(3), 385-388. 10. Carling, P. C., Parry, M. M., Rupp, M. E., Po, J. L., Dick, B., & Von Beheren, S. (2008). Improving

    cleaning of the environment surrounding patients in 36 acute care hospitals. Infection Control &

    Hospital Epidemiology, 29(11), 1035-1041. 11. Goodman, E. R., Piatt, R., Bass, R., Onderdonk, A. B., Yokoe, D. S., & Huang, S. S. (2008). Impact

    of an environmental cleaning intervention on the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci on surfaces in intensive care unit rooms. Infection

    Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 29(07), 593-599.

    12. Garrett, R. (2016) UV Light Disinfection And Other Alternative Methods. CleanLink. Retrieved

    October 12, 2016 from http://www.cleanlink.com/sm/article/UVLightDisinfectionAndOther Alternative-Methods-19836

    13. Ida, Nathan, 2007, Engineering Electromagnetics, Springer, p. 126. 14. E-Mist Innovations. (2016) Electrostatic Disinfection System. Retrieved October 12, 2016 from

    http://www.emist.com

    15. Bartlett, P.E. Goldhagen, and E.A. Phillips. (2016) Experimental Test of Coulomb’s Law. Oct. 12,

    2016.https://www.princeton.edu/~romalis/P.HYS312/Coulomb%20Ref/BartlettCoulomb.pdf

    16. Tang, K., & Smith, R. D. (2001). Physical/chemical separations in the break-up of highly charged

    droplets from electrosprays. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 12(3), 343-347. 17. Maxwell, J.C., 1865, A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 155,

    459–512. 18. Kramer, A., Schwebke, I., & Kampf, G. (2006). How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on

    inanimate surfaces? A systematic review. BMC infectious diseases, 6(1), 1. 19. Hughes, R. (Ed.). (2008). Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses (Vol. 3).

    Rockville MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Chapter 41, Preventing Health Care

    Associated Infections.

    20. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015) Hospital Value-Based Purchasing. Centers for

    Medicare & Medicaid Services. https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/Hospital_VBPurchasing_Fact_Sheet_ICN907664.pdf

    Copyright © 2016 InfectionControl.Tips. All rights reserved. Used with permission. For more information,

    visit Infection Control.tips

    Author: Joshua T. Robertson, President, E-Mist Innovations, Inc.

    Joshua is an entrepreneurial leader, experienced in growing organizations solving big issues within the healthcare space. Prior to joining E-Mist, Joshua launched National HME (NHME) in 2006. NHME partnered with over 500 hospice programs, served 500,000+ patients and created close to 500 jobs throughout the U.S. during his tenure at the company. In 2015, the company recapitalized and yielded a high rate of return for shareholders. Joshua also founded GrowCo Capital in 2014 that invests resources into entrepreneurial

    businesses and real estate projects throughout the United States. Joshua graduated from Texas Tech University

    receiving an Executive MBA and a double major in honors management and marketing. He is actively involved in GrowCo Capital, Project 4031, and founding President for the Rawls Raiders Alumni Network

    (Texas Tech Business School).

    About E-Mist

    E-Mist helps healthcare organizations prevent and reduce HAIs, Founded on a legacy of electrostatic science

    and technology, the E-Mist Infection Control System and Process eliminates traditional disinfectant methods.

    The EM360 System is mobile, touchless, safer, cordless, and more cost-effective approach to environmental

    surface disinfection. E-Mist makes disinfection better, easier and more cost effective