The COVID-19 pandemic has created a number of new challenges, especially for businesses looking to reopen. While there is always a need for trusted end of life care providers, individuals in these demographics are especially vulnerable to this illness. While planning our reopening strategy, Unity First has implemented a number of practices that make caring for our patients and protecting their safety possible.
We hope to provide insight in this blog post on the key steps of reopening your business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic such as:
Making sure your facility is fully clean, disinfected and equipped with a blueprint for maintaining safe conditions.
Setting up a support system in place for employees as they return to work and adjust to new realities and emotional challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Creating a plan for a safe work environment that protects employees and customers alike from risks connected to COVID-19, including exposure and transmission.
In the state of California, there have been indications that hospitals do not have respirators immediately available to health care workers for emergency COVID-19 patients. Respirators for emergency care have allegedly been unavailable because of inventory control policies that did not ensure immediate on-demand availability of respirators for emergency procedures. Although these issues have seemed to die down in the past few weeks, it still raises serious concerns that require an immediate hazard alert to ensure the availability of respirators when health care workers need them for emergency procedures.
California’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard (California Code of Regulations title 8 section 5199) requires California hospitals to provide powered air-purifying respirators and other personal protective equipment for patients who are suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19.
On top of providing the correct life-saving equipment, Unity First has made sanitization and virus-isolation a top priority as well. While many sterilization procedures are commonplace in the healthcare industry, we have bolstered our approach across the board in light of the novel Coronavirus.
The CDC recommends cleaning at least every day, and more frequent cleaning and disinfection of high-risk areas used by many individuals, such as shared objects, frequently touched surfaces and high transit areas (for example, restrooms and common areas). Businesses are also required to maintain cleaning logs on site that document the date, time and scope of cleaning and disinfection.
Some of the following are procedures also recommended by the CDC that Unity First has rolled into our daily protocol.
- Ask staff to stay home if sick.
- Have a safety plan in place for protecting staff who use cleaning chemicals.
- Provide appropriate protective gear for cleaning staff.
- Train staff on using cleaning and disinfectant products according to directions on the
label. - Remind staff to frequently wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Remind staff to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Remind staff to stay at least 6 feet apart from others whenever possible.
- Provide face coverings at no cost to staff who come into direct contact with other people.
If you have any further questions or inquiries into our COVID health precautions, please reach out to arlen@mensahospice.com or give us a call at (818) 855-5292
.
