I am a director at the Taipei American School, a pre-K-12 school serving 2,200 expatriates in Taiwan. I have four supervisors that manage a staff of 80 school employees and 60 contracted custodians and bus drivers.

When the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak started in Taipei, our first action was to try to minimize exposure of our community. We did this by restricting access to the facilities. As a result, most after-school and weekend athletic events were cancelled. In addition, students were encouraged to return home immediately after class ended. These actions reduced the cleaning load and also increased the time available to prepare the facility for use the following day.

On May 5, 2003, we had a full faculty meeting to discuss the SARS problem. Two days later, a teacher who attended the meeting had a fever and cough. A check at a local hospital showed an “abnormal” chest X-ray. Based on the earlier contact, all attending the meeting were placed on quarantine.

After that, only faculty, staff (including contracted employees), students and parents were allowed on the grounds. No contract cleaners ended up on the quarantine list, but they still had to follow strict entrance protocols. To get in, they had to show and display at all times a photo ID issued by the vendor and approved by the school. They had their temperature taken before entrance into the building and they updated us regularly on their health as well as the health and travel of their family members. If their temperature was above 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 degrees Fahrenheit), they were not allowed to enter the school grounds.

Site-wide disinfecting was done by our custodial contractor using a crew specifically trained and equipped to do this type of work. This was done only once, after the notice to quarantine our entire teaching and administrative staff. They are working throughout the city disinfecting areas under contract with the Taipei EPA and Health Department.

Ongoing cleaning measures include:

• All school buses are disinfected before each use. We use a quaternary ammonium compound and an anti-viral agent. We spray all seats and handrails, then wipe down. If the windows can be opened, some at the front and rear are opened to create a flow-through. If the windows cannot be opened, the rooftop “escape hatch” is cracked to create an airflow.

• All hallways and hard floors are mopped before the beginning of the school day with the same solution. Public areas are mopped periodically during the day depending on traffic volume. Cafeteria floor is mopped hourly.

• All door handles and door knobs are wiped down hourly. Elevator panels are also wiped down hourly.

• All hard surfaces in offices and classrooms are disinfected at the end of each school day.

• All computer keyboards are wiped with a disinfectant solution at the end of each school day. For computer labs, the keyboard is wiped after each class period.

• Cafeteria tables are disinfected at the beginning of each school day. Staff is on hand throughout the day and wipe down the table after each individual use.

• Additional hand wash areas have been established in the cafeteria and lower school areas. Teachers are emphasizing the need for frequent washing of hands.

The morale of the custodial staff is good. This is due in part to their understanding that they are working in probably the safest environment in the city and in part to their understanding that the environment is safe largely because of their work.




POSTED ON: 7/1/2003