Product Applications from the Field: Providing a Cleaner Ambulance
I found an interesting article on the use of ozone gas for disinfecting ambulances. This is interesting to me as I am a volunteer EMT in my local community. While I appreciate that ozone gas can provide antimicrobial intervention quicker and more efficiently than most any other technology, I question how this applies to the field of EMS.
Question #1 – While the ozone generator is running in the ambulance one would not want to enter the ambulance. However, we have no idea when the next emergency occurs that will require our services. Do we have time to air out the ambulance? Will the ozone level in the back of the ambulance be safe?
Question #2 – There are many rubber and plastic medical devices in the back of the ambulance. How will these be affected by the use of high levels of ozone? Using a cracked ambu-bag that will not hold air, or cracked oxygen tubing could certainly ruin my day.
EMS can, at times, be a messy profession. Some messes are much harder to clean up than others.
Products like the Ozilla EMS Sterilizer from Genlantis make cleaning and sterilization after particularly messy calls a simple task.
The Ozilla EMS Sterilizer uses ozone gas, the most powerful oxidative agent that occurs naturally, to destroy germs, viruses and microbes that could linger and cause contamination after calls. The sterilizer leaves no residue typical of detergent or synthetic cleaners. The system kills 99.999% of 650 different kinds of pathogenic organisms in as little as 60 minutes.
Chad Panke, regional director of Gold Coast Ambulance/AMR Ventura County in California, says his company has been using the Ozilla EMS Sterilizer for about a year, and the system has given him peace of mind.
“The winning point is with blood and other bodily fluids: They can get into a lot of places we can’t see or might miss during the initial cleaning,” Panke says. “An area of big concern is what’s in the fabric of the seats, the first-in bag and the cloth straps of the gurney and backboard. We don’t have to routinely soak them, which keeps them out of service for a long duration.”
Panke says the portability of the sterilizer is a plus, and it allows them to take the system to ambulances in the field in the case of a norovirus outbreak at a facility or something similar.
Another benefit is the ability to remove any smells after a call that might remain in the ambulance.
The Ozilla EMS Sterilizer is EPA registered and does not use any harmful liquids, UV rays, harsh chemicals or heat, and the ozone gas does not do any damage to surfaces inside the ambulance.