Preventing The Spread Of C. diff

	PRESENTED BY
	Rick Macher Director of Compliance and Research Workplace Safety Awareness Council & Director of Research and Development ProMed Alliance International's SafeHouse Environmental Services
Read More For the last six years, as a consultant Rick has focused environmental health & safety, compliance audits, pandemic management, emergency response management and risk mitigation. Rick has developed several specialized EH&S validation programs that met OHSAS 18001 and ANSI Z10 protocols and are utilized in Fortune 500 organizations nationwide. In 2008 Rick developed and implemented the "SafetyROI" and "Third Party Risk Mitigation Plan" risk management program designed to systematically reduce injury rates and provide a measurable return on investment. (For clients with an elevated Experience Modification Rate (EMR) or DART rate the program reduced their EMR and workers compensation costs by an average of 27 percent.). Based on these results Rick has successfully negotiated with workers compensation providers to secure the best coverage at the best rate as well as effectively resolving case disputes. Rick holds both the Emergency Response Management (ERM) and Environmental Health and Safety Analyst (EHSA) designations from the Green Cleaning Institute of North American (GCINA) and multiple certifications from the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), OSHA and other Safety, Health, Facilities Management and Cleaning Science industry associations. Rick currently serves as Director of Compliance and Research at the Workplace Safety Awareness Council and as Director of Research and Development for ProMed Alliance International's SafeHouse Environmental Services; providing cutting edge Assessment, Education, Disinfection and Decontamination in cleaning science for every type of facility in the Health Care industry.
	MODERATED BY
	Dan Weltin Editor-in-Chief Sanitary Maintenance, Contracting Profits magazines

Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff, is anything but common when it comes to its effect on hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings. Causing diarrhea, severe abdominal cramping and pain—and sometimes resulting in in kidney failure or even death—C. diff infects or colonizes 13 out of every 1,000 patients or approximately 7,178 inpatients on any given day, according to a 2008 report by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The same study claimed C. diff infections cost between $17.6 million to $51.5 million and kill between 165 and 438 patients daily.

A highly contagious, bacteria, C. diff can be difficult to eradicate, putting employees and patients in these facilities are at a higher risk of infection.

This webcast will discuss why C. diff on the rise, why and how it has become more potent, and how you can put a program in place to help prevent its spread.

After this webcast, you will...

Understand C. diff, including how it is spread and what kills it
Be able to identify areas at highest risk for contamination and contact precautions
Address kill claims and proper cleaning procedures
Learn training practices to mitigate the spread of C. diff

Trade Press Media Group is authorized by IACET to offer 0.1 CEUs for this program.