Exposure to organisms that were found in ICU rooms may lead to healthcare-acquired infections that can result in illness and death. Michael Schmidt, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina, and an author of the poster, said, “It is well known that hospital-acquired infections have a high cost, both in terms money spent treating them and lives lost. One in twenty hospital patients will develop a hospital-acquired infection; that number increases to thirty percent for patients in intensive care units.”
The first phase of this study showed that the most heavily contaminated objects are those in closest proximity to the patients. High levels of Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) were found on common objects, such as bed rails, call buttons and visitor chairs. Because these bacteria can survive for extended periods of time, contaminated surfaces can act as a means for spreading bacteria to patients, visitors and healthcare workers.
In the second phase of the trial, copper bed rails, tray tables, chair arms, call buttons, monitors and IV poles replaced the stainless steel and plastic versions in ICU rooms of three hospitals: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, both in Charleston, SC.
The phase two trial results were very positive. Copper was effective in significantly reducing the total bacterial load in ICU patient care rooms and on many individual objects within those rooms. Further study is needed to assess whether copper touch surfaces can play a role in preventing cross contamination and the transmission of hospital-acquired infections. Credit for article: www.copper.org
April 22, 2010
Texting while driving is a serious problem, just listen
to the news. My sister, Lisa, is involved in a
brand new program that is nothing short of amazing.
Want to make sure that your child can not text while driving? Want to keep your child safe from online predators? Read on…
WebSafety is a security solution
designed to safeguard our children. Learning by their
mistakes is how our children grow. This is how we as
parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and
grandparents learned, right?. But what happens if they
make the wrong choice with electronic communications? By
the time parents learn of the mistake, all too often the
damage is done and it is too late. WebSafety helps
parents to teach their children to make the right
choices on the internet, to respect the power,
limitations and dangers of the internet. For instances
when children make the wrong choice, parents are alerted
immediately so they are able to step in to provide
guidance.
WebSafety products contain the world's largest word
recognition library. It is the most comprehensive and
advanced database ever compiled, capable of searching
more than 4,000 words, terms and phrases that spell
danger for children. Once WebSafety content analytics
determines a child is in harm's
way, it sends an alert to parents via email
and/or cell phone, empowering them to take action
“proactively”. Visit www.mywebsafety.com/pisces
to learn more about this powerful content
analytics and alerting technology.
July, 2010
Wow, it has been
a long time since I wrote in this forum. Lots of new
things going on. We now have a
Facebook
page. We also have a monthly
newsletter.
Two of my granddaughters have been visiting while
their parents were out of the country for a wedding. We
have had such a great time. We took them for photos and
had their nails and hair done up! I just have to share a
photo.
You
can click on the photo for a larger image.
We have also added a "customer story" section to our site. This is a place where customers can share photos and stories about their projects with others. There are some great ideas that can be gleaned. Hope you enjoy!
Well, the kiddies are still here, so have to go...