Hospitals are often thought of as places to get better, where you get rid of germs and cure illness. But the truth is one in twenty people leave a hospital with an infection they acquired there. It makes sense really, put enough sick people in the same place and there will be real problems. Here are some of the dirtiest places in a place that’s supposed to be so clean. Avoid them if possible, and be careful if it isn’t.
The ER
The emergency room is full of people who have illnesses as well as injuries and even the smallest disease could carry germs that are dangerous to you. Chances are the chair any one patient is sitting in has had a dozen sick people in it today, not to mention the people all around coughing and spluttering fairly close to them. If you’re coming to the ER and you have any control over the circumstances bring a bottle of disinfectant and have the person who brought you wipe the chair down.
The Cafeteria
People don’t wash their hands and even doctors aren’t perfect, almost everyone who’s been moving through the hospital either is sick or recently touched a sick person. Their hands are all around your food. Sadly the responsibility for this is entirely on the staff. If you happen to be running a hospital Click Here to find a cleaning service, or a list of cleaning products that would serve well in an environment where chemicals are a bad idea and cleanliness is all important.
The Laundry Room
The laundry room of a hospital is a place where exactly three things go. The clothes that patients were wearing while they were coming in, and were sick. The clothes doctors wear around sick people or in surgery, and the robes patients wear while they’re in a hospital, while they’re sick. Because of this gigantic amounts of germs grow in every laundry room. Stay out of there if at all possible, and if its not then wash the clothes, wash your hands and avoid high contact surfaces.
In Patient Wards
This is a place where rooms full of two or three people who have been sick a long time. They have lived there for weeks or months on end and while the rooms are cleaned its never enough. Walking down the hallway to visit your patient be careful you don’t touch other visitors or any high contact surfaces.
Bathrooms
This is pretty classic and obvious. Sick people, leaving behind waste, make sure it gets cleaned a lot. That is pretty much it. Wash your hands thoroughly on your way out.
Most people will stay out of the hospital if at all possible but there’s no reason to be scared. If you are reasonably careful, and don’t touch much, you should be all right.