World Hand Hygiene Day: seconds save lives - clean your hands!

It’s World Hand Hygiene day today and Southern DHB is reminding everyone about the importance of hand hygiene.

Hand hygiene plays a crucial role in preventing the spread of illnesses, and since the global COVID-19 pandemic started it has been one of the important tools to help stop the spread of the virus.

Southern DHB Charge Nurse Manager Infection, Prevention and Control, Jo Stodart is encouraging everyone to remember to keep practising good hand hygiene. “It’s not just health care workers who need to remember their hand hygiene, it’s crucial that the public continue to practice it too, in schools, workplaces, shops and wherever they go.

“Although New Zealand has no community cases of COVID -19, we still have a pandemic raging in many countries across the world. We need to make sure we don’t become complacent about washing our hands, and doing it correctly, or using hand gel when we don’t have soap and water readily available,” says Ms Stodart.

As well as reminding the public about the importance of good hand hygiene, Southern DHB staff are being reminded about the 5 moments of hand hygiene in a fun way this year by taking part in a quiz. The World Health Organisation’s 5 moments for hand hygiene approach requires hand hygiene to be completed before and after contact with a patient or when performing a procedure, and after leaving their surroundings, irrespective of whether or not gloves are used.

“Our message this year is not to become complacent about COVID-19 and for everyone to wash their hands often and in the correct way, and encourage everyone around them to do the same. We also encourage patients and whānau to ask their health care worker to clean their hands - it’s their right.”

How to Clean Your Hands

Using soap and water

1. Wet hands using warm water

2.  Add soap to make lather

3. Rub palms, back of hands, and between fingers

4.  Rub for at least 15 seconds

5.  Rinse hands and dry well

When to wash our hands

We should wash our hands regularly each day, particularly:

• Before eating or touching food
• After using the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
• After touching animals
• After handling rubbish
• After changing a nappy
• Before and after touching a sick or injured person
• Remember it’s very important to dry your hands well as virus / bacteria like damp places to live.
• Cover cuts and abrasions and moisturise your hands as well to stop skin drying out.