Emergency Preparedness

Kern Medical Bioterrorism Response Guide Section 2-C-1 – Smallpox

quaternary ammonium compound or a phenolic. Allow all surfaces to air dry. The disinfecting solution and a supply of cleaning materials should be kept in the patient’s room. Privacy curtains should be changed when visibly soiled. Floors should be cleaned using a single-bucket procedure of wet mopping. The contents of the bucket should be emptied into the toilet. After each use, the mop head should be removed and disposed in the linen hamper. Disposable mop heads and cleaning cloths should be used, if available. The bucket and the mop handle should remain in the patient’s bathroom. Terminal Cleaning Terminal cleaning should be performed using similar procedures described for daily cleaning. If the room is under negative pressure or is HEPA filtered and there are at least 6 - 12 ACH, allow the room to air for at least 2 - 12 hours (depending on the number of ACH) before admitting a non-infected patient to the room. Soiled Linen Soiled linen should be placed in leak proof bags. When removed from the room, the bag should be placed in a second leak proof bag and clearly identified as “isolation” or “contaminated”. The bag should be carefully secured and removed from the nursing unit in covered carts to a designated holding area. Chutes should not be used. Facility Operated Laundry Soiled linen should be autoclaved prior to transport to the laundry facility. If the linen is not autoclaved, facility laundry workers should wear PPE including N-95 respirators. Commercial Service Infection control practitioners should consult with the commercial laundry service to determine special requirements, if any, for labeling, transporting and processing soiled linen. As an alternative, linen should be autoclaved prior to transport to a commercial laundry service. Patient’s Clothing Bag patient’s clothing if visibly soiled with blood or body fluids and send home with a family member with instructions to use warm water and a commercial laundry product. If no family member is available, follow the facility procedure for washing and drying patient’s clothes. Before washing or sending the patient's clothes home, determine whether the FBI wants to retain the clothes as evidence.

6