"Hand
Washing"
Written by
Tessa Jupp RN for the Post Polio Network of WA
Such a simple weapon against infection.
My first training in hand washing came from my
mother in the polio days of the 1940s and 1950s. Being a nurse, she was very particular about
this and there was always a bowl of Dettol in the bathroom for a final rinse
and shake dry! - right from when we were little.
This stood me in good stead when I too trained
as a nurse and sterility on the wards and in theatre was paramount. I remember teachers supervising hand washing
before eating at school in the polio days too.
Today I am accused of “washing my
hands too much” but it stops me getting sick. I need to be vigilant.
As soon I get home, the first thing I do after
hanging
up my car keys is to head for the hand basin to
wash.
We pick up lots of germs from other people when
we are out - from anything commonly touched by people; money, shopping
trolleys, ATMs, door handles, taps, pushing buttons, escalators, ticket
machines etc. (Mum had us use our little
fingers to open the door to get out of the public loo - and no sitting on the
seat!)
The germs we have picked up when out, we
transfer to our purses and handbags, wallets, car keys, house keys, car door
handles, window openers, steering wheels, gears, front doors, light switches,
door handles. And that is just getting
in the front door.
So if we don’t wash straight away, how
many things inside our house will we spread germs to.
A standing joke in my household has always been
that years ago one of my young sons patted my mother’s cat before washing
his hands after coming home from shopping and Gran “dettolled” the
cat!!
Do remember to wash after patting or handling
pets.
We all know about washing our hands after going
to the toilet and before preparing or eating food - I hope!
What about washing your hands after you blow
your nose on a tissue?? Or
sneezing/coughing into hands.
And again after you have squeezed the kitchen
sponge dry that you have just wiped the table with?? Squeeze and leave to
dry. Germs need moisture.
And how clean is the tap handle?? You turned it on with a dirty hand so it is
still dirty when you turn it off, unless you also run some soap and water over
the tap while you wash your hands!!
Germs are usually removed with hot soapy water,
so always wash your dishes in hot soapy water and regularly wipe switches,
handles, taps etc too. Keep disinfectants
for really dirty jobs. Usually soap will
do.
Rinse and wash your fruit and vegies. We don’t know what parasites, worms,
insects, chemicals and other nasties lurk in the leaves or skin of our plant
foods.
Wash tins and lids, plastic wrapped cheese and
meats before opening too. We don’t
know who has touched them or what insects have run across them.
This way we can protect ourselves and our
families from a lot of winter colds, flu, tummy wogs, parasites, food poisoning
and the like this time round.