Concentration of microbe in surfaces of hospital ambulances

Authors

  • Nutthajit Onmek Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus
  • Kosin Prabnarong Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus
  • Thichada Phuangwan Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus
  • Sasanee Srithai Prince of Songkla University, Surat Thani Campus

Keywords:

emergency ambulances, microbial contamination, cleaning method

Abstract

This research aimed to study the contamination of bacteria and mould in the 5emergency ambulances from 2 hospitals; 1) Sampling 10 areas in each car before and after cleaning by swabbing method. 2) Evaluate the vehicle cleaning methods and exposure risk for staff and patients.

The results showed that hospital A had the highest amount of bacteria before and after cleaning. The highest steering position was 64.15x104 CFU / m2 and 35.17x104 CFU / m2, respectively. Hospital B had the highest amount of fungus. The oxygen tank was the location with the highest amount of fungus before and after cleaning. The cleaning methods resulted in significant reductions in mould and bacteria at α = 0.05. Most founded bacteria was Bacillus Gram-negative, which are pathogenic bacteria. And the type of fungus that was found is Aspergillus.

All results showed that the staff had an important role in increasing or decreasing the number of microorganisms. Most of the contamination comes from staff activities such as the cleaning method, frequency of cleaning and the behaviour of the staff etc.

References

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Published

2019-08-26

How to Cite

Onmek, N., Prabnarong, K., Phuangwan, T., & Srithai, S. (2019). Concentration of microbe in surfaces of hospital ambulances. UBRU Journal for Public Health Research, 8(1), 28–38. Retrieved from https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ubruphjou/article/view/211516

Issue

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLES