Learning to Communicate with Your Cleaning Service

Posted on: 17 September 2015

Hospitals have a very strict set of regulations regarding the cleaning and disinfection of an operating room. Usually the hospitals hire janitorial services to work for the hospital from within the hospital's own healthcare system, but on occasion a HAZMAT janitorial service may come in to clean and sanitize operating rooms. In the event of  CDC quarantine within hospital walls, a HAZMAT janitorial service takes over for any in-house janitorial crew. Here is what the HAZMAT cleaning service does to eliminate dangerous contagions and prevent a hospital-wide quarantine by the CDC.

Everyone Suits Up

HAZMAT suits completely cover those going into the operating rooms where the suspected contagions may be lurking. (This is the first major difference between standard hospital janitorial services and quarantine cleaning.) There can be no leaks and no open areas on any part of the suits, and full face and head masks with portable air tanks are used during cleanup to prevent contagions from depositing onto the cleanup crew. The entire crew has to pass through a decontamination chamber every time they enter and leave the areas that are in the process of being cleaned so that the contagions cannot piggyback out of the contaminated areas on the HAZMAT suits.

Every Square Inch of Surface Area Is Treated

There are some particularly virulent strains of deadly diseases that can only be killed with government-issued chemicals, fire or extreme cold. A HAZMAT janitorial team treats all infected areas as though they are total biohazards and utilizes the recommended sprays and temperature controls to destroy the potentially deadly contagions. Absolutely no square inch of surface area can be left untreated, or it puts the next patient, doctors and nurses who enter that operating room at risk for infection. Even after the team has blasted every surface with the recommended treatment, the entire area must pass CDC inspection before it receives a clean bill of health and can be used for operations again.

Ventilation Contamination Is Also Addressed

Since many diseases are airborne, most operating rooms already block off and control the ventilation for each operating room so that the spread of infection or disease is narrowed down to just a single room. However, when dangerous contagions are involved, the ventilation system has to be completely swept and treated just like all of the other surfaces in the room. This may include, but is not limited to, removing the ventilation shafts and chemically treating them or bagging them up to be destroyed off-site and replaced with sterile ventilation shafts.

For more information about the types of janitorial services used in a hospital, contact a company like Ak Pros.