As the first stop in the hospital to treat persons with acute and acute illnesses, the Emergency Unit is a highly mobile and complex area of high risk of infection. Therefore, effective prevention of infection and anti-bacterial interventions in emergency services is essential.
I. Common risk factors for emergency medical infections
1. Patient factor: The emergency section receives patients from various locations with different conditions, including those with infectious or infectious diseases. These patients may be carrying various strains, such as influenza virus, pneumocococcal, golden grapes, etc. For example, during the high-prevalence influenza season, many influenza patients enter the emergency section, spreading the virus to the surrounding environment through coughing and sneezing, leaving other patients, families and health-care providers at risk of infection.
2. Environmental factors: the relative openness of the emergency room to complete isolation. The concentration of large numbers of patients and their families makes air and object surfaces vulnerable to pollution. For example, when patients are exposed to chair, arm, stretcher, etc., if they are not cleaned in time, subsequent users may become infected with residual bacteria. In addition, medical equipment such as hearing devices, sphygmomanometers, etc. in emergency care can also be a vector for the transmission of the disease if they are used interchangeably among different patients and are not completely disinfected.
II. Antibacterial strategies to prevent infection
1. Strict sterilization measures:
• Air sterilisation: the emergency section should maintain good ventilation, which can be combined with natural and mechanical ventilation. At the same time, the air is regularly disinfected with ultraviolet lamps or air disinfectors to reduce the number of bacteria in the air. For example, UV-sterilizing lamps are activated for 1 – 2 hours at the end of the daily peaks of treatment, which can effectively kill suspended bacteria in the air.
• Surface disinfection of objects: The surfaces of objects that are frequently exposed to patients, such as tables and chairs, door handles, hospital bed bars, etc., shall be sterilised at intervals of at least 3 – 4 times a day, using appropriate disinfectants (e.g. chlorinators). For surfaces contaminated with blood and body fluids of patients, they should be disinfected immediately.
• Segregation measures: segregation in a timely manner for persons suspected or diagnosed with an infectious disease. In the case of special isolation rooms or areas, medical personnel are required to wear protective clothing, masks, gloves, etc. to prevent cross-infection when they come into contact with these patients.
2. Protective and operational norms for medical personnel:
• Personal protection: Medical personnel should wear basic protective equipment such as work clothes and masks during their daily medical work. When performing operations that may generate splatters of foam, blood or body fluids, such as trachea tubes, snorting, etc., glasses, masks and protective clothing are required. For example, in rescue of an open trauma co-infection patient, medical personnel operate in strict compliance with protective standards, avoiding the risk of their own infection.
• Handsome: the hands of health personnel are one of the important means of transmitting the disease. Therefore, hygiene norms must be strictly enforced, either before and after exposure to different patients, before an sterile operation, after exposure to the patient ‘ s blood or body fluid, by washing hands with soap and mobile water, or by using alcohol-containing hand disinfectants.
III. Case analysis
There has been one small-scale norovirus infection conglomeration in an emergency unit. A child infected with the virus was sent to the emergency clinic for vomiting, diarrhoeal diseases, which were not treated in a timely manner because of the high number of patients, and the areas and equipment in which the child had been exposed were not fully disinfected. Subsequently, a number of patients and health-care staff waiting for an emergency clinic continued to experience symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Immediately after the incident, the emergency section took a series of corrective measures. The pre-screening of patients has been strengthened, with patients with suspected infectious disease symptoms being screened in isolation from specific areas; there has been an increase in the frequency of disinfection and a complete and complete sterilisation of the entire emergency care environment; intensive training has been provided to medical personnel, emphasizing the importance of hand hygiene and personal protection. These measures have led to the successful control of further spread of the Novan virus.
This case is a good illustration of the fact that neglect at any point in the emergency section can lead to an outbreak of infection and that only a comprehensive and rigorous application of anti-bacterial measures to prevent infection can effectively guarantee the health and safety of patients, their families and health-care workers, so that the emergency section can be a strong fort against infection while treating the patient.
