Cleaning Machine: Enhancing Wheelchair Cleanliness

Faced with an increase in the number of easily transferred infections and viruses, such as MRSA and the recent swine flu, today’s healthcare facilities must ensure that common patient touch points are held to the highest standard of cleanliness. In an effort to improve the level of sanitation on one of the most common touch points within its facility, Indianapolis, IN-based Wishard Health Services recently selected the ICS 8900 touchless cleaning system from Hydro Systems as the solution to its new cleaning regime for its fleet of 250 wheelchairs.

Penny Handshaw, a certified Doctor of Physical Therapy employed as Director of Rehabilitation Services at Wishard Health Services, had noticed last fall that the facility’s wheelchairs were looking a little unkempt, so she set out to find a solution.

“Given the fact that we have patients and visitors using our wheelchairs on an ongoing basis, you don’t always know who’s been in them last, and prior to my involvement, they didn’t get cleaned until somebody noticed they were dirty,” said Handshaw.

During her search, she discovered that there really was no set system in place at Wishard that addressed the appropriate level of cleanliness of the wheelchairs or spelled out a regular cleaning schedule. Therefore, Handshaw’s first step was rounding up the wheelchairs and giving all of them a thorough cleaning, which was accomplished by dozens of Wishard employees using a hodge-podge of cleaning techniques, from pressure washes to scrub brushes to renting a wheelchair-washing machine. Once that difficult task was completed, Handshaw went about finding the best way to maintain a regular cleaning schedule. After watching the staff struggle to get the wheelchairs clean using traditional cleaning methods, Handshaw, in talking to JoAnn Pardue, Wishard’s Director of Environmental Services, learned about the ICS 8900 touchless cleaning system.

The ICS unit is perfect for Handshaw’s needs because it is a portable cleaning system that uses cleaning chemicals applied by spray nozzle using low-flow/low-pressure technology. This unique low-flow design uses only half-a-gallon of cleaning solution per minute, eliminating the need for wet/dry-vac recovery and the handling of contaminated water, while at the same time reducing the slip-and-fall risk.

Handshaw has also conducted ATP testing on a number of the wheelchairs and the results show that using the ICS reduced the bioload on the chairs by an average of 82%. This reduction in ATP levels after using the ICS proves that the unit is helping get the wheelchairs cleaner than traditional cleaning would.

“Now, we have a system where at least once a month the wheelchairs get sanitized with the ICS equipment. It’s a much easier way to keep the wheelchairs clean and sanitized,” said Handshaw. “I know we are concerned about waste and the product really helps us not over-utilize the sanitizing agents. It’s properly diluted and doesn’t use a lot of water.”