While hospitals have safety measures in place, they can't protect you from what they don't know is a potential threat.
They can be lifesavers, but resuscitation bags, known as Ambu-bags, may also be a danger. Ambu-bags are used by medical personnel to deliver oxygen to patients who cannot breathe.
If contaminated, the Ambu-bag can collect bacteria, which could be transmitted to the patient and contribute to the potentially deadly ventilator associated pneumonia. But safety guidelines for using the bags are vague. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends only that they be replaced as needed or when they're visibly soiled.
"Well, what may be visibly soiled doesn't necessarily mean that it's not infectious because you can't see bacteria," Lorene D. Cathey, RN, and Director of Infection Prevention at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, told Ivanhoe.
SubmitThat prompted Registered Nurse Niki Rasnake to lead a study at the University of Tennessee Medical Center to help establish new safety guidelines.
"I followed 147 patients through the first seven days of their hospital stay, if they were intubated, and I would take their actual bag. They would seem clean in appearance, but when we swabbed them, they did, grow out bacterial growth," Rasnake told Ivanhoe.
Rasnake says there was a 7 to 8 percent chance of contamination on the first two days of using the Ambu-bag, but that number jumped to nearly 30 percent by days five and six.
"And that's what alarmed us because a lot of people could be ventilated, on a ventilator, for anywhere from one to two weeks," Rasnake explained.Submit
Thanks to Rasnake's discovery, the hospital now changes the filters on its bags every four days.
Rasnake's study, along with other measures, contributed to a 44 percent drop in ventilator associated pneumonia cases over the past two years at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. She recently presented her findings at a national conference and hopes they will enhance safety precautions across the country.
------
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Niki Rasnake BSN, RN, CEN
Trauma Program Manager
University of Tennessee Medical Center
865-305-9741
Niki.Rasnake@utmck.edu
Lorene D. Cathey, MSN, RN, CIC
Director, Infection Prevention
UT Medical Center
865-305-9793
lcathey@utmck.edu
BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs caused by breathing in bacteria or because of illness. It becomes much easier for infection to cause pneumonia after having a cold or flu. These illnesses can make it more difficult for the lung to fight off infections caused by bacteria. Pneumonia can range in seriousness from mild to life-threatening.
TYPES OF PNEUMONIA: There are three main types of pneumonia: community-associated pneumonia, healthcare-associated pneumonia, and "walking" pneumonia. Community-associated pneumonia occurs when one gets the infection from a place in everyday life; such as school, work, or one's home. Healthcare-associated pneumonia comes when the infection originates from a hospital or nursing home. What doctors sometimes call "walking" pneumonia is simply a term for more mild pneumonia symptoms. (SOURCE: www.webmd.com)
SYMPTOMS: There are a variety of symptoms associated with the bacteria which can cause pneumonia. The most common are:
Coughing, especially coughing up mucus or blood
Shortness of breath
Chest pain that fluctuates with breathing
(SOURCE: www.mayoclinic.com, www.webmd.com)
HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA: Perhaps the most serious type of pneumonia is healthcare-associated pneumonia. The infection is more harmful because, many times, the bacteria which cause the infection can be multidrug-resistant. Even with drug-resistant strains of the illness, the best way to treat the infection is with a course of antibiotics. However, even these may cause the infection to become more resistant. (SOURCE: www.medscape.org)
