A free CPD-accredited webinar for IPC professionals, Facilities and Estates will be hosted by PDI International to highlight why effective air decontamination is crucial to protect the health of both healthcare workers and patients in hospitals and support staff in implementing best practices.
Scheduled for Wednesday 1st March 2023 at 10:30am (GMT), Carole Hallam, Independent Infection Prevention and Control Nurse Consultant, will present on the importance of indoor air quality in healthcare environments and how the use of innovative technologies can be leveraged to help to tackle the risk of airborne infection, a topic that is becoming increasingly important in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The webinar, titled ‘When Hand Hygiene and Cleaning are not enough; is it time to talk about Air Decontamination?’ aims to provide education and support to IPC and professionals on how to take the best approach to mitigate the spread of airborne infections, and why maintaining good levels or air quality needs to be part of any effective infection control and prevention programme.
Carole Hallam, who will be leading the session, said: “While hand hygiene is known to be one of the most important ways of controlling the spread of infections, air decontamination is also crucial in any hospital environment because the air can be a route of a variety of important disease-causing pathogens, without any clear signs. If not effectively filtered, it may cause a risk to the lives of staff and patients, especially those who are immunocompromised. Healthcare staff meticulously cleaning the premises clearly goes a long way to mitigating the risk of infection to anyone who steps foot in a hospital; however, it only goes so far.”
Infection control remains a major challenge to healthcare professionals worldwide, with over 4 million people are affected by HAIs every year across Europe. It’s estimated that over half of hospital acquired infections (HAI) are preventable and could be eliminated through evidence-based infection prevention and control strategies.
Although contact-spread is known to be the principal route of transmission for most infections, it’s also acknowledged that the contribution of airborne pathogens to the spread of infection is likely to be greater than is currently recognised.
Some virus droplets, like COVID-19, are small enough that they can remain in the air for up to three hours and can be carried by movement of air due to their size.
In the UK, HAIs are estimated to cost the NHS approximately £1 billion a year.
Airborne transmission is more prevalent in healthcare settings due to overburdened hospitals and the presence of immunocompromised patients.
Hallam added: “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the significance of having solid IPC procedures in place. Our webinar will highlight some of the important challenges that experienced IPC professionals face and how to best overcome these issues.”
Free registration and more information on PDI’s upcoming webinar are available at: Webinar Registration - Zoom.
