Hand washing 101

BY JENNIFER HOEGG

jhoegg@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

A refresher course in hygiene was offered in the Acadia Students’ Centre Sept. 14. Water, soap, paper towel, sanitizer and a coach were on hand to demonstrate proper hand washing techniques in advance of the fall flu and cold season.

Acadia Students’ Union, Sodexho Physical Plant Services and Deb Soap Canada sponsored the event. Leo Arsenault, of Swish Maintenance Limited, was there to instruct students and staff on proper hand washing. The lesson is simple: remove rings; wet hands; use soap; scrub hands, paying attention to webs between fingers and thumb, fingernails, cuticles and wrists; rinse; and pat dry. “Always pat your hands dry, as opposed to rubbing it,” he advised. “Rubbing just irritates the skin.”

After the lecture, there was a test. By shining an ultraviolet light, Arsenault showed his students what they missed.

Biggest mistakes

Two of the biggest mistakes people make, he said, is to keep rings on and not to scrub fingernails adequately. His light test showed this was the case with a number of subjects. Arsenault says scrunching hands together while washing, forcing water into the cuticle area, helps gets hands cleaner.

Arsenault says he spoke with approximately a dozen students and two professors and a large group of Physical Plant employees in the Students’ Centre and was off to a second demonstration at Acadia’s Vaughan Memorial library.

This was the second year he was onsite with the hand washing station, Arsenault said. Anecdotally, he said the H1N1 virus has not generated more interest in the presentation, “at least not from students.”

However, staff and professors do seem to be more concerned,.

Wash well to stay well

Arsenault echoes the advice of public health; hand washing is a better defense than alcohol-based sanitizers for virus prevention. “Although the hand sanitizer is good, “ he noted, “it is not a fix-all, cure-all. If you sanitize multiple times without washing in-between you create a medium for germs.”

Acadia spokesperson Scott Roberts says hand sanitization stations around campus are “only one of a few measures we have encouraged students to take.” Sanitizer dispensers were installed in several public areas on campus when the Norwalk virus hit Mount Allison a few years ago, he noted. “They’re part of what you can do to prevent the spread of many viruses.”

As part of the University’s H1N1 Pandemic plan, the school is encouraging students to wash hands, use antibacterial sanitizers and cover sneezes and coughs. Also, “if you are feeling ill, stay home and take steps to get well,” Roberts said. Students who are ill are asked to contact the Registrar’s office as well as their instructors.

Roberts said if students do need to miss time on campus due to illness, they would be able to keep up with coursework thanks to Acadia’s laptop computer policies. “With technology, our students have greater access to professors and course material.” A bonus, he noted, is fewer public computers may minimize virus transmission.

Seasonal flu still out there, too “H1N1 is a particular strain, but there is also the seasonal flu,” Roberts said. Vaccination for seasonal flu will be available at Student Health Services. Provincial plans for H1N1 vaccine distribution are not yet finalized.

Cleaning “touch points” in public areas more frequently is also part of the university’s plan for flu season. “We have ramped up cleaning of vanities in washrooms, tabletops, keyboards, doorknobs and telephones,” he said.

Although the school’s H1N1 plan covers a number of scenarios, a campus shutdown is not likely. “We don’t anticipate closure,” Roberts said. “Closure is not something the province recommends. It’s not feasible as an alternative.”

However, Roberts noted the campus always has contingency plans in place to keep operations running smoothly in case of an emergency closure, such as a snowstorm. “The most important thing is to always be ready and to conduct as much business as normal as long as we can,” he said.

WEBLINKS:

http://pandemicinformation.acadiau.ca/