Tips for Staying Healthy

11/19/19

Afternoon Hilltoppers!

As many of you already know, there has been an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness in many of our local schools. According to Mesa County Public Health, this will likely result in an increased incidence of vomiting illness throughout the community and it is obviously very contagious.

We serve many varied populations in our community. We need to be vigilant and do everything possible to keep our clients, residents, families and ourselves healthy.

First and foremost:

WASH EVERYONE’S HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER FREQUENTLY. Clients and residents will need reminding and assistance as needed. Use warm water, not cold or hot. Temperature extremes can cause cracking in your skin. Virus and bacteria enter your body through non-intact skin. Help children to wash their hands and remind older children to wash often as well.
Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. 85% of the diseases we share person to person are shared through our mucus membranes.
Keep hydrated. This keeps your mucus membranes moist. Virus and bacteria pass easily through dry and cracked mucus membranes.
Use hand sanitizer when hand washing facilities are not readily available. Take hand sanitizer with you and use when you are in public areas like restaurants, bathrooms, shopping, in the GVT bus etc.
When caring for clients/resident with symptoms USE YOUR PPE. Be sure to let your supervisors know if supplies are running low. We are heading into flu season and we need to have this equipment on hand and assessable for use.
Wipe down commons areas often with products capable of killing norovirus. Contact Property Services if you don’t have these supplies in your work areas. Wipe down work spaces, phones, door knobs, chair arms, hand rails, tables, copy/fax machines, etc. Use a paper towel to open bathroom doors and turn off lights.
Make sure vomit or diarrhea are cleaned up immediately. Know where the cleaning products are. It is everyone’s responsibility to help clean up. We have a limited number of environmental service staff. They are not always available and have other cleaning duties to attend to as well. Common areas need cleaning a couple times a day.
If you or your family members are sick, clean and sanitize your home. Use 1 cup of bleach per 1 gallon of water. Wear gloves to clean vomit or stool and dispose of them after use. Use care not to touch any other surfaces with contaminated gloves on.
Surfaces can become contaminated quickly and easily. Both diarrhea and vomit can splatter. The amount of virus that can fit on top of a straight pin can infect hundreds of people
Don’t prepare food for others if you are sick
At Hilltop, we are dependent on healthy staff to care for our client’s/residents BUT If you have an acute onset of vomiting or diarrhea, stay home. Your illness may not be the taco you just ate at lunch. Contact your program supervisors. Residential programs require staff to be free from vomiting or diarrhea for 48 hours before returning to work. Folks with norovirus can remain infective for 48 hours after symptoms subside. If you are funning a fever, the guidelines require you remain out of work 24 hours after the fever subsides without the use of medication. Keep your programs informed if you are symptomatic so tracking can be done. This goes for all programs.
Always practice good cough etiquette, cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing. Throw tissues away promptly. Flu season is coming too. Use these same precautions.
Always follow Standard Precautions: Treat every body fluid from boogers to blood like they contain something infectious, they probably do.