Environmental Services

The Infection Control Today® environmental services (EVS) page recognizes the team responsible for sanitation and cleaning within the health care system. EVS personnel are an integral component of infection prevention in the hospital, working closely together with the health care staff to ensure patient safety and hygiene standards. ICT® keeps a close eye on developments in the environmental services industry and reports on any peer-reviewed literature. This page also features video interviews with EVS and the professionals who interact with them.

Intense Infection Control Stops C. Auris Spread

February 03, 2021

“Infection control measures, including surveillance, education, cleaning/disinfection, patient cohorting, isolation, and hand hygiene, effectively contained the outbreak; it was declared over within 2 months.”

Keep an Eye on Ventilation Standards at Clinics

February 02, 2021

Beware the loophole. Many clinics are often classified as office space, not health care buildings, so they do not have adhered to ventilation standards.

Environmental Service Workers Not Feeling the Love

January 13, 2021

Many members of environmental service teams feel underappreciated and these health care professionals are not trained in any systematic and continuous way, a study states.

Pressure’s on to Build Negative Pressure Facilities

January 12, 2021

Cedric Steiner: “But the nursing home…. One could make an argument that [infection control is] more important there in some ways, because you have those residents in smaller spaces."

Q&A: Hospital Ventilation Designed to Thwart COVID

December 29, 2020

Paula J. Olsiewski, PhD: “Healthcare workers at hospitals are always concerned about the air because historically, we know many disease agents are transmitted through the air, whether it’s measles or tuberculosis. Those appear on the scene long before COVID-19.”

Year Zero: How COVID-19 Changed Everything

December 23, 2020

Though tough months lie ahead for infection preventionists and other healthcare professionals, hope remains that at some point in 2021 things will begin to settle down. In the end, it comes down to a simple formula: We win, COVID-19 loses.

COVID-19 Pandemic Proved Importance of Airflow in Buildings

December 18, 2020

Officials at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have the ability to convert several floors into airborne infection isolation rooms (AII), or more commonly termed negative pressure rooms, with the flip of a switch.

Ventilation Counts, says CDC’s COVID Rules for Schools

November 23, 2020

Consult with experts in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) when determining the safety of the school environment, the CDC recommends.

Checklists for Infection Preventionists Working in ORs

November 11, 2020

New infection preventionists can use this checklist to perform IP rounds in the surgical suite, decontamination areas, and sterile processing area.

Don’t Stop with Disinfecting Surfaces – Clean the Air to Decrease COVID-19

October 26, 2020

Researchers from China recommend disinfecting the air, alongside, sanitizing surfaces, to reduce exposures and transmission.