As we pass the two-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, mandates across America are ending and the talk now is of treating the virus as endemic. The hope is that, going forward, we can control it, rather than letting it control us.
If COVID taught us anything, it’s to pay more attention to the ways germs are spread. And nowhere is that more important than in healthcare facilities.
Studies show that 80 percent of common illnesses, including nasty ones like E. coli, staph infections and noroviruses, are spread by our hands. We touch surfaces, we touch our faces — constantly — and we then touch each other. Other studies, meanwhile, have repeatedly shown that our hand hygiene is inadequate, even among healthcare providers, who wash their hands less than half the number of times they should, according to estimates by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s hardly surprising that 1 in 25 patients — more than 2 million a year — acquires an infection while hospitalized. Repeated studies have found that those infections could have been prevented had workers adhered to safe care protocols, including proper hand hygiene.
Building in clean hands
Permanent, dependable, high-capacity dispensers are essential for improving hand hygiene and reducing the spread of germs in healthcare facilities, and technology has now made them possible. Austin-based hand hygiene company Vaask has developed a built-in hand sanitizer fixture that finally provides the answer to our poor hygiene habits. The elegant and effective Vaask sanitizer is permanent, unlike plastic bottles or flimsy wall-mounted pumps; touchless, significantly reducing the possibility of germ transmission; and built to minimize maintenance, reducing the demands on overloaded custodial staff.
For too long, we’ve crossed our fingers and hoped people exercised proper hygiene, and we’ve placed plastic sanitizer bottles around as a reminder. But they present a complete design failure, as they often sit empty, introduce more germs because of touching handles, squirt too much or too little, and add to the world’s staggering plastic waste problem. Now that the pandemic has reinforced the need for us all to clean up our act, and given that leading researchers and practitioners have proven alcohol-based solutions are more efficient in reducing hand contamination than washing with antiseptic soap, the first place in need of reinvention is the hand sanitizer station.
Making hand hygiene easy
It’s an established fact that if you want to change people’s behavior, you need to make that change easy for them. One of the best things about the Vaask hand sanitizer is that it is so attractive people actually want to use it. And once they’ve tried it, the experience is so pleasant that they return to it again and again.
Vaask’s design includes a PalmPilot® sensor that accurately detects hands and minimizes mess. The refillable tank contains up to twice the sanitizer of typical dispensers. And its array of easily customizable LEDs not only attract the eye, reminding people to clean their hands, they also alert personnel when it’s time to refill.
Built to last
Unlike many — if not most — products made these days, the Vaask dispenser is not designed to be disposed of after a few years. This permanent hand hygiene fixture is made of strong cast aluminum and steel with custom finish options available to match any aesthetic. Beyond Vaask’s full five-year guarantee, all parts are accessible and designed to be repairable to extend the system’s actual life perpetually. And being manufactured in Texas eliminates the risk of being held up on a container ship for months on end.
There’s a famous saying from an old baseball movie: If you build it, they will come. Vaask’s permanent, built-in sanitizing dispensers are designed to help build the kind of future we all want, one where people not only understand the importance of clean hands, but step up to the plate and follow through. And nowhere is that more important than in healthcare facilities, where Vaask is quickly becoming indispensable and has been honored with numerous awards. Among them is Best New Healthcare Product of the Year and two Symposium Distinction Awards at the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo, which recognized Vaask as both Most Sustainable Product and Architect’s Choice Product.
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