It’s no surprise that hand hygiene is a huge topic of conversation in hospitals. It’s important to keep patients safe, and one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is through proper hand washing techniques. However, these same strategies can also be applied to other clinics as well - including veterinary clinics. In fact, the maintenance of germs is even more important when working with animals because your patients do not wash their own hands, they lay on the floor, are consistently licking themselves, and even after being vaccinated can still carry and spread diseases if proper hygiene is not considered.
All Portable Sinks is passionate about seeing our portable sinks being used in many different environments and for many different purposes, and this includes veterinary offices and animals shelters. Here are a few things you need to know about hygiene around animals, and how our portable sinks are perfect for animal clinics.
A Few Howling Things to Know
A huge concern for veterinary hospitals is controlling germs and bacteria. The reasons it’s so important is because there are many viruses that can affect even a healthy and immunized pet. You want to prevent a disease outbreak that can be tracked back to your facility. There are strains of feline calicivirus and Canine influenza that are commonly known to attack and potentially kill even well vaccinated and healthy animals. Both of these diseases have swept through veterinary clinics, which then causes unfortunate deaths of pets, tremendous expense, and the devastating job of telling a client that their pet has died from a disease contracted from a veterinary visit.
This doesn’t just affect clinics, in fact, it’s even more rampant in shelters. It’s incredibly difficult to control diseases in shelters when many animals enter shelters in poor health, malnourished, stressed, and with no history of vaccination. The hope is that you can support these pet’s systems through their vaccination practices, stress reduction, and clean food and water - but a comprehensive plan for sanitation is a MUST.
Where Can You Start?
Half of the battle will be cleaning the contaminated environmental surfaces. Consider that even if you put the animal onto a perfectly clean exam table, if the hands of the person handling the animal are dirty, the pet can then take in the bacteria on those hands. Proper hygiene isn’t just better for the pets, but it’s also good for the humans handling them as well. Hands notoriously make their ways into human mouths, noses, eyes, and so forth - making it easy for bacteria to enter your system as well.
There are three solutions to keep in mind when thinking about the hygiene of your facility: gloves, washing with soap and water, and hand sanitizers.
Gloves will always be the first choice when handling your furry patients. However, hand washing is considered the next best choice when gloves are not practical. Studies are showing that proper hand washing has the significant advantage of removing even the most resistant pathogens, and is a MUST when hands are contaminated with feces, blood, bodily fluids, very soiled, or suspected exposure to a durable pathogen such as parvovirus or ringworm.
If you’re looking for an easy answer for your facility, we are proud to say that portable sinks may be the best solution, in conjunction with training on proper hand washing and drying. In fact, one of the best solutions you will find when searching through this topic is to provide clients and staff ready access to hand washing stations stocked with soap and paper towels at all times.
All Portable Veterinary Sinks
If your clinic or shelter is in desperate need of more hand washing stations, but you don’t have the plumbing to make it possible, All Portable Sinks to the rescue. We supply portable sinks with hot and cold water, not to mention some of our units even come stocked with soap and paper towel dispensers. Everything you need to make your hospital or shelter a safe place for both your pets and your people. Hop over to our website to take a look at the commercial, outdoor, and healthcare models. These sinks will be the perfect addition to your facility, and we look forward to hearing how it helps improve the safety of your company for everyone.
All Portable Sinks - Making Clean-Up Easier!
