Emergency medical services oxygen equipment: a fomite for transmission of MRSA?

Objectives

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was present on the surface of oxygen cylinders and regulators used in the prehospital setting and secondarily to assess other surfaces for MRSA within the ambulance compartment, as a comparison.

Continue reading “Emergency medical services oxygen equipment: a fomite for transmission of MRSA?”

Compliance with hand hygiene in emergency medical services: an international observational study

Introduction

Healthcare-associated infection caused by insufficient hygiene is associated with mortality, economic burden, and suffering for the patient. Emergency medical service (EMS) providers encounter many patients in different surroundings and are thus at risk of posing a source of microbial transmission. Hand hygiene (HH), a proven infection control intervention, has rarely been studied in the EMS.

Continue reading “Compliance with hand hygiene in emergency medical services: an international observational study”