The problem:
Nearly 2 million patients each year suffer from health-care-related infections. More than 90,000 of these patients die from the infection. Another way of looking at this: Imagine a filed football stadium. That’s how many people die every year from infections they get in the hospital.
The solution:
A recent pilot program of seven hospitals (none in St Lucie, Martin or Indian River Counties, I might add) put in place some procedures to reduce infections–
–having patients shower with germ-fighting soap prior to surgery
–using wound-protecting devices on surgical openings
–having surgical teams change gowns and gloves and instruments during surgeries
These simple steps in these hospitals reduced infections by almost 1/3.
Hopefully, more hospitals, including Raulerson, Martin Memorial, St Lucie Medical Center, Lawnwood and Indian River Medical Center will get on this bandwagon to try to save lives. Wrote to your hospital risk manager or administrator and ask why these procedures aren’t in place.
