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12 / 05 / 2021

How Evacuation Sheets can spread infections in care facilities

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Antimicrobial resistance has become a global problem for health care facilities. Reduction of bacteria in care facilities will always be an ongoing challenge that require lots of control and prevention.

It’s exactly for this reason that manufacturers have been developing healthcare products with anti-microbial properties. This should help to minimize bacteria on product surfaces and as a result help to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.

And it’s incredibly important that these infections should be reduced, because they are major causes of morbidity and mortality today. According to Healthline, 99.000 Americans die of these infections annually. In the EU, 90.000 people die each year as a result.

How does this story relate to Evacuation Sheets?

Before digging deeper into the dangerous role that Evacuation Sheets can play with bacteria spread – it’s essential to define the term ‘Evacuation Sheet’.

Bedbound Patients or people can’t escape on their own in an emergency. They need assistance on their way out. An Evacuation Sheet permanently sits underneath a bed mattress and can be deployed in seconds to bring the person to a safe zone, including the bed mattress.

Evacuation sheets, while permanently positioned underneath the mattress of ill patients in care facilities, may become contaminated with bacteria and actually aid infectious disease transmission. This claim makes sense because if sheets aren’t put on correctly, sweat, urine, blood, and other bodily fluids can easily soak or flow along the mattress onto the Evacuation Sheet below it. Once the sheet would become contaminated, the spread of germs is inevitable. The consequences of that spread can be detrimental and life-threatening for your patients. To prevent this, it’s essential that health and safety managers inspect the fabric details and require manufacturers to show a microbial test report prior to purchasing Evacuation Sheets.

It’s actually for the simple explanation above, that Sanitized TH24-27 was applied to the S-CAPEPOD range. This Swiss anti-bacterial technique has a reliable antimicrobial effect against a large portion of bacteria, yeasts, mildew, mood, yeasts and algae. The technology e helps to successfully combat potential growth of bacteria on the fabric and prevents the potential spread of germs.

After you’ve read this, you might also be interested in the Q&A below.

Is the S-CAPEPOD brand the only Evacuation Sheet range with an anti-bacterial function?

Until today, yes it is.

Why can you wash the S-CAPEPOD Evacuation Sheets at 40 degrees (Celsius)?

While most industrial laundries recommend washing at min. 60° Celsius to kill bacteria, we’ve decided to recommend users to wash at a max temperature of 40° Celsius. It’s important that you can make full use of the anti-bacterial lifespan on the fabric and it lasts much longer at a washing temperature of 40° Celsius compared to 60° Celsius. Keeping the anti-bacterial function in top condition is a top priority since it protects patients and staff members from harmful bacteria.

Therefore, it would be possible to wash at 60 degrees, but it’s not recommended.

Is the S-CAPEPOD water repellent?

No, it’s not. The fabric on the S-CAPEPOD is permeable. Evacuation Sheets with a water repellent function can be dangerous, because body fluids can get stuck between the bed mattress and the evacuation sheet. Those body fluids can become a source of bacteria spread.