¿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.

Evaluating Cleaning Services in Civil Environments: Microbiological and Life Cycle Analysis Comparing Conventional and Sustainable Methods

“…This situation may indicate the necessity of implementing proper disinfection, decontamination, and floor cleaning procedures. Nigam and Cutter previously showcased the efficacy of standard practices involving the cleaning and disinfection of both the insides of ambulances and the equipment utilized by medical services [28,29]. Numerous other studies in the same vein have documented comparable findings regarding the extent of microbiological contamination on internal surfaces [25,26,[30][31][32][33][34].…”

Caracterización fenotípica y perfil de sensibilidad de bacterias recuperadas de ambulancias de atención prehospitalaria de Medellín

“…Los resultados obtenidos están relacionados a deficiencias en el proceso de limpieza y desinfección, teniendo en cuenta las múltiples variables asociadas a la efectividad de los mismos y que ya han sido reportadas en otros estudios, dentro de las cuales encontramos: la concentración de las soluciones químicas empleadas, los tiempos de contacto, los periodos cortos para la atención entre pacientes, jornadas laborales extenuantes, material de la superficie, tipo de microbiota involucrada 5 .…”

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.…”