DebMed GMS helps hand hygiene compliance
Also protects patients and healthcare workers from hospital superbugs
“Healthcare facilities must remain on high alert to stop the spread of killer bacteria through vigorous enforcement of infection control and hand hygiene policies and practices,” said Paul Alper, VP of Strategy and Business Development at DebMed, the creator of the DebMed GMS electronic hand hygiene compliance monitoring system.
He was responding to a warning from Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control in the US, about the superbug Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and his advice to hospitals and nursing homes to protect patients and families from bacteria through vigorous hand hygiene programmes.
Alper said traditional hand hygiene monitoring methods lack the sophistication to provide staff with the reliable data needed to combat serious bacterial infections and save lives.
“That’s why healthcare organisations must turn to electronic monitoring of hand hygiene compliance and provide workers with feedback on performance and the ability to focus in on areas where improvement is needed,” he said.
DebMed’s GMS hand hygiene monitoring system is based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Five Moments for Hand Hygiene’ and meets the organization’s ‘Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’ recommendation.
The ‘Five Moments’ are before patient contact, before aseptic task, after body fluid exposure risk, after patient contact and after contact with patient surroundings.
The DebMed GMS electronically monitors healthcare workers’ hand washing habits and provides feedback on compliance rates in real-time.
