Issue Date: 3 June 2015
Ref: DIV15/09
Dealing With Body Spills
Easy-to-use Spill Kit includes unique broad-spectrum disinfectant
Body spills and unexpected soiling are a familiar challenge in building care. They always represent a potential source of infection and must be cleaned up quickly and efficiently to eliminate the risk. Most infections are spread by personal contact or touching previously contaminated surfaces. This is why effective hand hygiene and surface disinfection are vital components of any infection prevention regime.
Eliminating body spills is also important because they can contain large amounts of pathogens that, if not removed effectively, can quickly spread and cause illness in others. They also often occur in settings where other vulnerable people are present or where illness among staff can severely compromise an organisation’s ability to provide care.
Diversey Care’s Oxivir Plus Spill Kit contains everything needed to isolate, remove and disinfect a body spill. It allows building care teams or designated employees to respond quickly before the spill has a chance to spread and cause further contamination. Contents include disposable protective clothing, absorbent granules, plastic scoop, scraper and bags, and a spray bottle of the unique Oxivir Plus broad-spectrum disinfectant. All items are supplied in a handy portable carrier designed to be kept at convenient locations throughout a building for quick and easy access during emergencies.
When a body spill occurs the user puts on the protective clothing – gloves, shoe protectors, apron, mask and goggles. They then spray the spill and surrounding area with the Oxivir Plus disinfectant. Depending on the nature of the body spill an area up to one metre from its centre may need to be disinfected because small, barely visible liquid droplets created by coughing, sneezing, vomiting and so on can travel this far.
A sachet of dry granules from the kit is then applied to the spill and surrounding area. The granules absorb any liquid present and quickly form a gel that can be gathered up easily using the scraper and scoop and placed into one of the kit’s sealable plastic bags ready for safe disposal. Once the gel has been removed the area is sprayed again with the Oxivir Plus disinfectant and left for five minutes.
Oxivir Plus is a unique and fast-acting cleaner-disinfectant that offers powerful broad-spectrum performance against a wide range of infections and micro-organisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeasts in a single product. Its unique formulation contains patented Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide (AHP) and is fully compliant with the European Biocidal Product Directive. It has passed numerous standard microbiological tests including EN14476, EN1276, EN13697 and EN13727 with five minutes contact time or less. It also passes EN1650, EN13697, EN13624 and EN14348. AHP kills viruses including Norovirus in two minutes.
This broad-spectrum performance is highly advantageous in treating body spills because the type and number of different pathogens present is likely to be unknown. There is no risk of creating resistance in pathogens because of the way AHP destroys viruses and bacteria.
The combined cleaning and disinfection action of Oxivir Plus also removes residual soils that could provide a food source for bacteria to re-colonise.
The formulation of Oxivir Plus is suitable for a wider range of applications than comparable products with quaternary ammonium or chlorine compounds as the active ingredient. The AHP breaks down to water and oxygen alone shortly after use. There are no fragrances or dyes in the formulation which makes Oxivir Plus safe to use on most washable surfaces. It is Woolsafe approved which means it can be used on woollen carpets and other fabrics.
It does not leave residues or stains or produce any potential respiratory irritants. This means it can be used safely with reduced risk to cleaning staff, bystanders, surfaces being cleaned or the environment.
When dealing with body spills, after the recommended five-minute contact time the entire area can be cleaned with conventional products to complete the decontamination process. The protective clothing and the bag containing the spill can all be disposed of in the normal way.
Each spill kit contains sufficient items to deal with at least two typical spills. Replacements of all items are available from Diversey Care.