It’s a common joke—don’t go to the hospital, it will make you sick. Yet there is some amount of truth to the idea. One study demonstrated that 92 percent of privacy curtains were contaminated with infectious bacteria within one week of laundering. Another study concluded that up to 60 percent of nurse and physician clothing can be a source of nosocomial infections.
Now, Prime Medical, Largo, Fla., has a solution specifically for soft surfaces. The company joined forces with Clorox Professional Products Company to create hospital privacy curtains, scrubs and lab coats that feature Clorox Healthcare™ and CloroxPro™ brand value to provide unprecedented bactericidal protection.
Prime Medical developed a technology that binds bacteria-fighting molecules to the fabric’s surface for up to 12 weeks after washing with bleach, inhibiting viruses. The fabric recharges during each washing for a minimum of 75 industrial washes.
In lab tests, items with the activated fabric laundered per the label instructions with the EPA-registered bleach killed bacteria and viruses with 99.9 percent effectiveness. The fade-resistant fabric is odorless and retains its color even after multiple washes in bleach.
The privacy curtains are designed to be changed in as little as 40 seconds without a ladder. Each curtain consists of a six-foot modular privacy panel that snaps onto a mesh top. For more information, visit www.primemedical.com.