During the pandemic, healthcare workers risked their lives on the frontline, while saving patients at a critical time of need.
As a result, there has been a shift in attitude towards cleaning and sanitising products in the workplace, with an emphasis on providing extra protection to operators and customers.
It is vital that while healthcare workers are protecting us, they are able to protect themselves.
As healthcare workers travel from patient to rooms to labs, operating rooms and intensive care units, their screens become filled with bacteria and the risk of spreading infection increases.
A study published in Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials, found that 94.5% of healthcare worker mobile phones contained bacterial growth, some of which are known to cause nosocomial infections.
Good device hygiene is as significant to infection control, as good hand hygiene.
Therefore, healthcare equipment should be designed to survive sanitisation and disinfection. Some cleaners and harsh chemicals can result in components of devices becoming tarnished, weak and fragile.
For a mobile device to meet a hospital’s infection control policies, it needs to provide adequate ingress protection (IP) sealing to intercept chemical cleaning solutions from entering and damaging the device.
However, not all mobile devices and scanners have been designed to uphold to frequent and rigorous disinfection.
Our partner, Datalogic, supports these new needs with a comprehensive range of products and solutions. At ExPD, we provide Datalogic barcode scanners and mobile printers that are all compatible with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directive for sanitisation.
In addition, we also provide a selection of models and scanners that withstand harsh disinfectants higher than the CDC recommended basic solution.
The Datalogic Gryphon 4500 2D series maintains a high level of cleanliness, with all versions made from special materials resistant to harsh chemical cleaning.
To provide additional protection, the imagers are also treated to inhibit bacterial growth on the surface of the device and can be easily wiped quickly between shifts.
The wireless version can be inductively charged, with no physical contacts present on the device and on the base station. This extends the life of both devices as no preventative maintenance is needed to keep the charging contact clean.
Contact scanners can be vessels for dust accumulation and microbial growth, however the Memor 20 offers a wireless charging capability which helps eliminate this risk.
It has an exclusive second top-edge display, serving as a hands-free feature. This allows users to clearly see and prioritise customisable notification alerts and caller ID, without fully interrupting the task at hand.
The QuickScan 2500 imager is optimised to easily read through plexiglass barriers. In addition, it is available at an incredibly affordable price.
It is important that staff don’t feel hesitant to wipe down mobile devices and scanners in fear of breaking the device. We want to make sure healthcare workers view technology as the beneficial tool it is, not as a health threat.
Find out more information, please contact our experts at enquiries@expd.co.uk
