Ross Memorial Hospital - Kawartha Lakes
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RMH recruiting community participation in Hand Hygiene Relay

Ross Memorial Hospital is hosting a Hand Hygiene Relay on September 1st to raise public awareness of the importance of clean hands in the hospital environment.

Beginning at 10:30am on September 1st, hospital employees will form a line that stretches from the surgical ward on the fourth floor to the main lobby. Each person in line will apply alcohol rub and clean his or her hands for 20 seconds, covering all areas of their hands and complying with the best practices set out by the World Health Organization. When the first participant is finished, he or she will apply the alcohol rub onto the next person’s hands and so on.

The hospital team is encouraging patients and visitors, community partners and members of the public to take part in the relay. RMH is hoping to challenge the current world record, set in India this year, with 1,410 participants.

“It would be great to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records, but really, our main goal is to emphasize how important it is for everyone to pay attention to their hand hygiene when they’re in the hospital,” said Leanne Harding, Infection Prevention and Control Manager (IPAC). “People either don’t clean their hands long enough, don’t clean all the areas of their hands — or they just forget to do it.”  

“We spend a lot of time highlighting the importance of hand hygiene among the staff and physicians, and we have a very dedicated housekeeping team at the hospital,” said Sharon Connell, IPAC Nurse. “But it takes everyone’s involvement to keep the hospital environment as germ-free and safe as possible. We hope our hand hygiene relay highlights that important message in the community.” 

Anyone interested in taking part are asked to meet in the RMH main lobby by 10:15am on September 1st. Those taking part will be asked to register and to consent to being photographed.

WHO Challenge

On May 5th, 2015, World Hand Hygiene Day, the World Health Organization challenged health care organizations around the globe to host hand hygiene relays to promote patient safety. Most healthcare-associated infections are preventable through good hand hygiene — cleaning hands at the right times and in the right way.