Hot-water cycle necessary for killing germs, biohazards, according to long-followed federal guidelines for infection prevention and control.
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New hot-weather uniforms for the province’s paramedics come with labels advising they be washed in cold water, seemingly contradicting the province’s protocols for washing them in hot water.
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Washing in cold water protects the reflective material and helps it last longer, according to the uniform manufacturer.
the uniforms themselves are a response to last summer’s heat dome, when paramedics had no suitable uniforms for such heat, and are CSA approved.
“There are some particulars (regarding the new uniforms) the employer hasn’t necessarily been super-clear on,” said Corey Froese, provincial safety director for CUPE 873 (Ambulance Paramedics of BC).
“With our IPAC (Infection Prevention and Control Canada) infection control we generally wash uniforms at a higher temperature just to make sure that we kill any type of bacteria or virus, any type of biohazard. That’s something, ultimately, the employer didn’t identify. I would recommend a high temperature for safety, based on any protocol, based on any uniform product.”
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BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS)which oversees the BC Ambulance Servicehas so far been proactive in listening to its paramedics in coming up, quickly, with usable, high-visibility uniforms, Froese said, even going above and beyond in getting the uniforms out.
Most of the feedback Froese has received has been positive, but there are things that do need to be ironed out, he said.
Longevity, for one, hasn’t been tested — the uniforms are so new not all paramedics have even received them yet.
The BCEHS has pledged to seek feedback come autumn to assess the effectiveness of the new uniforms. Each paramedic has also been issued a vacuum-insulated water bottle, after “unprecedented hot weather last year underscored the need for more protection for staff health and wellness in high-risk heat,” according to the health-services provider’s website.
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The BCEHS didn’t get back to Postmedia News in time for publication.
There will bugs to be worked out since the uniforms are so new, Froese said, and BC Ambulance Services has gone “above and beyond” in adopting union suggestions after last summer’s heat dome.
“But I would definitely recommend that crews or paramedics wash at an appropriate temperature that we have historically done with our other uniforms, and that if the shirt falls apart they’ll just have to reorder it and replace it.
“From a safety perspective, I can’t get into the rhetoric of where the limitations come with the product and the product integrity: Infection control has to be the first and foremost for safety, so if that means the uniform falls apart and it turns out to be that the uniform does not have any longevity based on that washing procedure, then we would have to come up with (something different negotiated with the BCEHS).”
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