Date of Last Review 3/16/10
Date of Last Review 10/18/10
Date of Last Review 10/31/11
SME: Infection Control Manager
Infection control procedures are in place to control the presence of biological
agents and environmental irritants in patient care and working environments.
Facilities management follows the maintenance schedule for the cooling tower as recommended by the manufacturer. The scheduled maintenance includes:
 | Ensuring that the cooling tower is greater than 25 feet from the air intake for the building as recommended in ASHRAE 62R |
| Treatment of the water with bromide every other month |
| Treatment of the water with Biocide every six months |
| Routine scaling of the cooling tower every 6 months |
Additional testing of the cooling tower is performed following a report of a patient suspected or confirmed of having Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac fever provided that there is a temporal relationship between the patient's stay at UTHCPC and the incubation period of the disease.
Note: The incubation period of Legionnaire's disease is 2-10 days and the incubation period of Pontiac fever is 1-2 days (APIC Text of Infection Control and Epidemiology 2005).
A prevention program is maintained to prevent air contaminants within the air exchange system (HVAC). Air quality is managed as follows:
Who is responsible... |
Action... | ||||||||
Facilities Management |
| ||||||||
UT Environmental Health and Safety |
Performs sampling for mold and fungus as needed | ||||||||
Infection Control Practitioner |
Reviews all employee and patient complaints regarding indoor air quality and makes recommendations with guidance from the Infection Control Committee |
Construction activities inside the building causing disturbance of existing dust, or creating new dust, must be constructed in the enclosures cutting off particles to patient care areas. See the following table for the dust control process:
Step |
Action |
1 |
Enclosures include, at a minimum, fire retardant plastic sheets 6 mils thick extending from ceiling to floor with adhesive walk-off pads. |
2 |
Before any construction begins, the enclosures must be inspected and approved by the Environmental Rounds Team. |
3 |
Safety and Infection Control collaborate to issue an approval letter. The construction manager posts the letter at the construction site for the duration of the work period. |
4 |
If dust is noted outside of the enclosed area during construction, construction is halted until the enclosure is modified to contain the dust. |
5 |
Dust outside of the work area is cleaned up immediately by construction workers. |
6 |
After construction, the approval letter is returned to the Safety Officer. |
The Joint Commission : Surveillance, Prevention, and Control of Infection
If you have questions regarding the content of this site please contact the Policy and Procedure Committee. If you experience any technical problems please contact the MIS Department.
