Currently in the US, both employee and patient safety are key issues in medical
systems, extending beyond the walls of medical facilities to ambulances. In a
limited space, employees perform patient care, often under extreme time
pressure, within a small vehicle moving at high speed. In ambulances, both
employees and patients can be exposed to potentially infectious agents during
transport in the vehicle, with a higher risk of healthcare-associated infections
(HAIs), from the enclosed space of an ambulance. While risks of emergency
medical service (EMS) workers are well-documented, data about patient risk in
ambulances are not available. Therefore, adoption of methods to improve
occupational safety for the EMS workforce, while ensuring patient safety, is
urgent.
CASPR was installed and tested against ambulances that were only subject to their
standard protocols for disinfecting. CASPR stands for “continuous air and surface
pathogen reduction” and is a low-maintenance natural catalytic converter that
generates powerful oxidizers, including gaseous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from
molecular oxygen and humidity of the ambient air and disburses low concentrations
of oxidizers into the environment. The oxidizing molecules decompose pathogens in
the air and on surfaces. The concentrations of those oxidizers are highly effective in
reducing the bioburden, while safe for environments occupied by people and
equipment of all kinds. CASPR is a novel technology for reducing bioburden in the air
and on environmental surfaces.
Claro published an article in the American Journal of Infection Control that
identified the threshold for a safe medical environment that reduces HAIs is equal
to or below 2.5 CFU/cm2. The average for all locations on the CASPR test unit was
0.35 CFU/cm2, which is 86% below the threshold. This study validates prior
testing of the effectiveness of the use of CASPR to reduce bioburden on
environmental surfaces in the ambulance tested. The average for all locations on
the two control units was 7.72 CFU/cm2, which is 209% above the threshold.
Follow us to learn more about CASPR and improving indoor air quality.
