If there’s one place where one would expect the highest levels of cleanliness and sterilization, it’s in health care settings. Yet annually, 1 in 25 patients in the US are diagnosed with health care-associated infections (HCAI). More broadly, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10-percent of patients in developing countries, and 7% in developed nations suffer from such infections. The challenge, however, is that the use of harsh chemicals in some disinfectants poses other risks when used in the presence of highly sensitive patients. A more potent, all-natural sanitizer – hypochlorous acid sanitizer –helps address that challenge.
Root Cause Analysis
In one of its Patient safety bulletins, the WHO suggests “inadequate environmental hygienic conditions” as one cause for such high rates of HCAIs. The bulletin stresses that one way to address the issue is by “implementing standard precautions, particularly best hand hygiene practices, at the bedside”. More broadly, however, a wide-scale sanitization and disinfection protocol is the best way for infection prevention and control in health care settings.
Many health care facilities do implement such protocols, but they rely on quaternary ammonium-based (Quats) sanitization and disinfection products. The challenge there, is that in a setting where patients may already suffer from respiratory issues, the use of such chemicals may cause added stress. Additionally, many staff and patients – especially older or relatively young patients and visitors – have sensitive skins. The use of harsh chemicals may cause allergic reactions, and even eye and nose irritations.
That’s why, many healthcare facilities have switched to hypochlorus acid, or HOCL, produced in-house using their own HOCL machines. The process uses no chemicals – just salt, water, and electricity – to produce an unlimited supply of the most powerful disinfectant.
Addressing a Real Need
Hypochlorous acid sanitizer, also called Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water, is an ideal and practical replacement for Quats, chlorine bleach products used in health care settings. That’s because it does not include toxic chemicals contained in traditional products used to sanitize hospitals. Based on proven results, it’s indisputable that Electrolyzed oxidizing water is:
– safe
– non-toxic
– non-irritant
– all-natural
– highly effective
There’s growing scientific evidence to back all those facts. With skin or respiratory irritations a cause for concern for most health care professionals who care for sensitive patients, harsh chemical-based sanitizers pose a risk. Because of the growing calls to switch to safer and more natural disinfectant alternatives, devoid of toxic chemicals, hypochlorus acid is increasingly the sanitizing agent of choice for most hospitals and healthcare settings.
Because of these qualities, HOCL is used across a broad area within healthcare facilities, including:
– hospital rooms
– hospital beds
– chairs
– reusable instruments
– testing and diagnosing equipment
– …and much more!
HOCL is also a great choice to sanitize stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and other medical instruments shared by multiple healthcare providers to treat more than a single patient. It’s proven 99.99% more powerful than traditional products in killing OC-43 types of coronaviruses – those that have similar profiles to COVID-19. Also, commercially-packaged sanitizers and disinfectants are highly cost-prohibitive to healthcare facility budgets. Therefore, in-house produced Hypochlorous acid sanitizer is now the most cost-effective chemical-free option to fight HCAIs.
