[humanser] Question about cane sanitation for hospital use

Carly Mihalakis carlymih at comcast.net
Sun Feb 14 15:47:32 UTC 2016


Sanitizing your cane? That's new to me. Seems 
like sanitizing your shoes, kind of pointless?
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Carwrote:
>I forgot that one!  I have also considered 
>having a cane, even two, set aside for use in 
>the hospitals. On 8/17/15, Annely Rose via 
>humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote: > Hi, > > 
>I'm following this thread and it is very thought 
>provoking.  I am recalling > that when my late 
>husband was in the hospital with a staff 
>infection in his > nasal passages, as they 
>called it, all of us had to wear protective 
>gear, > but the nurse brought in the medication 
>cart and I'm not aware that anyone > wiped it 
>down afterward.  also, there was furniture in 
>the room and other > equipment.  I carried my 
>cane in and no one said anything.  Even a 
>doctor > came in and didn't have a gown on or 
>any facial mask.  go figure.  Maybe > this 
>hospital wasn't as strict or should I say they 
>were careless.  And > where did my husband get 
>this infection?  He was home with us 2 days 
>before > and a day in ICU before they diagnosed 
>it and none of the family came down > with 
>it.  The ICU staff didn't wear anything 
>protective.  Makes you wonder. > And if you get 
>sick, they say that there are staff germs 
>everywhere, even on > our skin.  Our canes go 
>everywhere with us and who knows what 
>the >  tips come in contact with on a daily 
>basis.  I try to wipe mine clean, but > many 
>times forget.  When I fold it up, I never put it 
>in my purse and try > not to touch it either on 
>my skin or on my clothes.  And, of course, I 
>never > put it on a table anywhere.  If I set it 
>on a chair in a restaurant, I'll > leave the tip 
>hanging over the edge. > > Annely > > > 
>-------------------------------------------- > 
>On Mon, 8/17/15, Michael Abell via humanser 
><humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote: > >  Subject: Re: 
>[humanser] Question about cane sanitation for 
>hospital use >  To: "'Human Services Division 
>Mailing List'" <humanser at nfbnet.org> >  Cc: 
>"Michael Abell" <bigdog4744 at gmail.com> >  Date: 
>Monday, August 17, 2015, 12:18 
>PM > >  Hello, >  Â Â Â  These are all fantastic 
>and thought >  provoking answers! I am taken 
>by >  the new >  frontiers that we are blazing 
>through. >  Â Â Â  I have special canes for 
>occasions. What >  about a cane that would 
>be >  used for just >  such purposes. You could 
>remove any porous material >  (grips, >  tips . 
>and elastic) even going to a >  solid cane. This 
>would make it easy to >  sanitize and you could 
>limit its use for these >  purposes. >  Â Â Â  J 
>D brings up very salient >  points about 
>instruments and devices. I >  would ask the 
>hospital staff what they do with >  their 
>devices. I am also >  waiting to hear >  what 
>our dear friend Dr. Chapel has to say on 
>this >  subject! >  Mary? > > >  Regards, > > 
>Michael "Big Dog" Abell > >  Helping individuals 
>to find >  their eyes in the dark. >  (480) 
>369-0805 > > > >  -----Original 
>Message----- >  From: humanser 
>[mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] >  On 
>Behalf Of Ginny Duff >  via humanser >  Sent: 
>Monday, August 17, 2015 9:06 AM >  To: 
>humanser at nfbnet.org >  Cc: Ginny 
>Duff >  Subject: Re: >  [humanser] Question 
>about cane sanitation for hospital >  use > >  I 
>work in a hospital >  although being in 
>psychiatry, I rarely have to worry >  about this 
>issue.   I agree that the >  cane is 
>essential.   Its one thing to >  leave it 
>outside the room when you are just >  visiting 
>but it would be a >  completely >  different 
>matter if you were working there. > >  I'd be 
>just as concerned >  about the tip and the 
>handle.   If you touch >  something with your 
>gloves then you have >  transferred anything 
>contaminated >  to the >  handle and then once 
>you take the gloves off your hands are >  in 
>direct >  contact with the >  handle.   Of 
>course when you fold the cane up 
>you >  then >  touch the whole thing. > >  You 
>could contact the head of >  infection control 
>and let them mull that over. > > >  What to 
>do >  with the cane would be analogous to what 
>staff do with a >  walker >  or medical 
>equipment that is taken >  out of the room 
>later.   They must wipe >  that equipment 
>down with something that would >  work on your 
>cane.    Alcohol >  swabs are a >  bit too 
>small. > >  Ginny > > > >  Dr. V. 
>Duff >  Clinical Director, >  West End ACT 
>Team, >  St. Joseph's Heatlh >  Centre , 
>Toronto >  Staff Psychiatrist, Complex >  Mental 
>Illness, CAMH Lecturer, University 
>of >  Toronto >  Tel:Â Â Â 416.530.6000, ext 
>3101 >  FAX:Â Â Â 416.530.6363 > >  Sent from my 
>iPad > >  > On Aug 17, 2015, at 11:43 >  AM, JD 
>Townsend via 
>humanser >  <humanser at nfbnet.org> >  wrote: > 
>  > >  > >  > Hello Kaiti & All: >  > >  > 
>Interesting >  question.  I do work in a 
>hospital and precautions are >  > always an 
>issue. >  > >  > My questions are: >  > 
>Do >  other staff wear street shoes or cover 
>them with booties? >  > Do other staff wear full 
>body coverings or >  are pants 
>exposed? >  > >  > Alcohol wipes are always 
>present in >  hospitals.  A clean wipe of 
>my >  > white >  cane would provide much better 
>protection than the exposure >  to >  > my shoes 
>or pants and much better >  protection than 
>nursing clipboards or >  exposed hair. >  > >  > 
>According to my best knowledge, your 
>white >  cane is considered a >  > prosthesis, 
>like >  a prostetic leg and as such there ought 
>be no problem >  > if it is kept as clean as one 
>of those >  devices. >  > >  > If 
>shoe >  booties are called for, just use one for 
>your cane tip. >  > >  > I would be 
>more >  concerned about your music insterments - 
>players and >  > the like, and your cell 
>'phone. >  > >  > >  > JD Townsend 
>LCSW >  > >  Helping the light dependent to 
>see. >  > >  Daytona Beach, Earth, Sol 
>System >  > >  > >  > > 
>_______________________________________________ > 
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> > -- Kaiti Shelton University of Dayton-Music 
>Therapy President, Ohio Association of Blind 
>Students 2013-Present Secretary, The National 
>Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division 
>2015-2016 "You can live the life you want; 
>blindness is not what holds you back!" 
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