How To Wash Soiled Hospital Linens - By: Justin Davis

The laundry business is one of the most important utility services ever that answered mans growing needs. The demands brought about by our job and our various daily activities made us prefer to accomplish tasks such as doing the laundry, cooking meals and washing the dishes in an instant manner thus, instant food and drinks, fast food counters, dishwashing machines, laundry and ironing services and among others came into the limelight.

Engaging in laundry service proved to be lucrative as more career men and women find it convenient to just drop and pick their laundry up later within the day or the following day and save them the hassles of washing and dying their clothes up. Entering into a laundry contract with hospitals and hoteliers is another story because of the large scale capital, manpower and the specialized heavy equipment needed.

Washing of soiled linens, patients gowns and doctors scrub suits, storage and transport to their rooms where the materials are ready for use, involve the meticulous observance of special procedures. The use of especially made detergent solution and process is followed to avoid the spread of disease-causing microorganisms to end-users such as patients, doctors and other hospital staffs.

In August 2008, according to the data presented at the 59th Annual Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference, linens contaminated with Rhizopus were connected to a cutaneous mucormycosis outbreak in a Louisiana hospital which was identified by researchers through culture and histopathology wherein samples were collected from the air and surfaces in the hospital and hospital linens since they were the only items common to patients and doctors. The result of the test data later revealed the presence of the deadly microorganisms in the linens where swabs of specimens were taken. Although the linens have been laundered clean, they become contaminated with different kinds of pathogens through improper handling, storage and exposure to hospital air through transport.

Soiled hospital linens are washed in water of 22 to 50 degrees Celsius and bleached for a half hour because microorganisms are destroyed in a 50 degrees Celsius temperature. Autoclave machines and other specially made sterilizing equipment are used for optimum disinfection or decontamination of soiled linens. This process although expensive, taxing and involves the employment of several workers, guarantees the safety of patients and hospital staffs because it is the first and foremost duty of every medical personnel and hospital management team to protect and safeguard, above all, the safety of every hospital worker and every client, from contracting hospital-acquired diseases.

Whether you are a hospital owner, Equipment Purchasing Officer or a hospital laundry service contractor, it is your responsibility to implement the use of efficient sterilizing equipment such as autoclave machines, sterilizing tunnel machines, their accessory parts such as thermostats, pumps and among others.

About the Author

To minimize the spread of pathogens and the spread of disease-causing microorganisms, it is imperative to maintain the efficiency of any hospital sterilizing equipment and the constant flow of clean and potable water supply through high-quality bell & gossett pump. Bell and gossett pump will keep each machine at its desired temperature setting.

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