¿Emergency ambulances potential source of infections? An assessment of cleaning and disinfection procedures

Abstract

Objective: evaluate the cleaning and disinfection procedures (CDP) in six ambulances from three different entities in Pereira (Risaralda-Colombia).
 Methods: cross-sectional descriptive study frequencies of presence/absence were calculated from data obtained in the bacterial growth results before and after CDP, taking samples in three different places on the ambulances, being: back door, stretcher and wall next to the patient, before and after said processes. Additionally, surveys were carried out at the domicile of companies providing pre-hospital transport service.
 Results: 77.8% of the samples were positive. The most frequent morphology in the study was gram-positive cocci, which remained in a greater proportion after disinfection. At the microbiologic level, most of these suggested being Staphylococcus aureus-type. By implementing CDP, microbiological isolates were eliminated in 33.3%, being the door the ambulance area, which showed the greatest decrease (50.0%).
 Conclusions: A high prevalence of potentially pathogenic microorganisms exists in non-critical points of emergency ambulances. With CDPs, a decrease in microorganisms is achieved, but not their elimination, leaving in evidence that different factors must be considered in order to improve these CDP.

Emergência Microbiológica: Descontaminando Ambientes

“…Apesar das precauções tomadas, equipamentos de proteção pessoal e equipamentos descartáveis diminuírem os riscos aos pacientes e paramédicos, os veículos permanecem vulneráveis a contaminações provindas de secreções biológicas e patógenos (Alves & Bissel, 2008). Por essa razão, a limpeza e os procedimentos de desinfecção precisam ser considerados como essenciais pelos profissionais de saúde e sistemas de vigilância epidemiológica (Alvarez-Aldana et al, 2018).…”

“…. Os processos de limpeza e desinfecção devem ser implementados e estritamente monitorados para que se possa garantir a completa eliminação dos potenciais micro-organismos patogênicos que possam estar presentes(Alvarez-Aldana et al, 2018).Desta forma, o presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar o perfil de decaimento de patógenos modelo, em superfícies de equipamentos de atendimento pré-hospitalar com e sem a aplicação de agentes germicidas. Para isso, foram primeiramente preparados os inóculos bacterianos de cepas padrão de E. coli.…”