Healthcare Facilities: What You Should Know About Pests and Pest Control

Pest control would be the last thing on your mind as a healthcare provider. You’re keener on getting the patients in and out fast, ensuring they’re cared for in a clean and comfortable atmosphere, and making their weekly check-up or emergency room visit as painless as possible. Unfortunately, insect infestations will disrupt both of these objectives. You should always go for local pest control to keep the environment health-friendly.

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Mice, cockroaches, bed bugs, and even ants can render a patient or treatment room useless. It is not only disturbing to see insects or rats in an environment where you are getting medical attention, but it is also unhygienic.

In a sensitive healthcare climate, sanitation is essential. Pests such as cockroaches and mice have been found to bear up to 30 different bacteria and viruses.

Because of their existence, they would need food anywhere it can be found. They don’t care if it’s in a garbage can, a guest bed, or a kitchen storeroom. They grab and deposit bacteria and viruses on their feet, bodies, or by their saliva or feces as they ascend in these areas. If not treated properly, they have the potential to transmit viral infections in an entire hospital.

Pests to Watch Out for in Healthcare Facilities!

While the kitchen and food centers are the most popular places for pests, areas such as the sick units, autopsy rooms, janitorial cabinets, staff lockers, garbage collecting areas, and break rooms are also popular. These areas also have a buildup of different types of waste or soil, which is a love-filled invitation to pests.

Below are some of the most popular wreaking havoc-creating pests found in hospitals:

• 1. Cockroaches

According to research, cockroaches transmit approximately 33 different bacterial species, six different parasitic worms, and at least seven other types of human pathogens. They aim to expand bacteria and contaminate anything they come into contact with, including food and kitchenware.

These insects have been related to the transmission of allergens, viruses, parasitic organisms, and the infection of healthy habitats. Cockroaches are also responsible for exacerbating asthma and indoor allergy symptoms, especially in children and the elderly. A professional pest control company would know ways to get rid of such dreadful cockroaches and ensure they won’t enter again.

• 2. Rodents

Rodents can penetrate a facility from virtually anywhere and inflict structural harm due to their ability to chew through almost any material.  While inside, rodents can cause dangerous damage by chewing through wallboards, cardboard, wood, and plaster, as well as electrical wire, raising the risk of burning. They will even transmit bacteria by their feces when they defecate continuously, infecting their surroundings.

These insects have been related to the transmission of allergens, viruses, parasitic organisms, and the infection of healthy habitats.

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• 3. Ants

Ants are hardy predators, and their diets vary over time; their colonies will have large numbers, cover large areas to find food, and go to great lengths to defend their colonies.

The pharaoh ant is well-known for causing havoc in healthcare facilities due to its potential to transmit pathogens such as Salmonella Streptococcus pathogens. They are often drawn to open wounds, surgical preparations, and intravenous units, expected in healthcare facilities.

• 4. Flies 

Flies are the most troubling carriers of over a hundred different viruses, and they are notorious for their filthy habit of sitting in the dirtiest of places and then carrying such germs to the next healthiest spot they rest. Their saliva is also a recognized contaminant. Flies have been found to take over a hundred different types of disease-causing germs.

They contaminate food and surfaces by taking disease species picked up on the Silla and distributing them by their saliva, which is used to break down foods. Holding garbage cans locked and as tidy as possible, cleaning the trash regularly, conducting local pest control annually, and keeping feeding areas clean and clear of food waste help keep these dirty pests at bay.

• 5. Bed Bugs

These insects are a significant danger to any healthcare institution. They are known to enter from the most unusual entrances by dragging along with visitors’ clothes or other brought objects. Bed bugs are known to cause inflammation, and their saliva can cause rashes and the start of a variety of different infections. They can also trigger severe allergies.

Where Can Healthcare Facilities Begin with Pest Control?

However, to develop a strategic plan, you must first assess your facility, identifying potential access points and pests frequently found in your environment. We understand the importance of commercial pest control – Pests from the local surroundings and visitors entering the facility are the most common causes of pest problems in healthcare facilities.

Here are some of the vulnerable areas, as well as methods for avoiding harmful pests and pathogens from entering into healthcare facilities:

1. Ensuring that all facility windows and doors are locked at all times or designed to prevent pest entry, like automatic sliding doors that open in response to a stimulus.

2. A poorly managed plumbing structure can quickly attract bugs like cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes looking for humidity to help them reproduce. To stop water logging in any plant area, make sure to repair any blockage or leaks as soon as possible.

3. Pests are drawn to food storage and distribution areas, making the food facility and kitchen highly vulnerable to pests. You must ensure that all food is correctly preserved and that an inspection program by a reputed pest control company is conducted to provide that rodents are not ignored.

4. The docking zone for deliveries is yet another area prone to pest infections because pests can enter food and emergency supplies. So, before allowing any distribution products, closely check all of them to prevent the harm caused by pests or droppings.

5. Another factor to bear in mind is that bigger buildings are more likely to be infested with rodents during the winter months. They usually live in basements or in the trees and bushes that surround the facility. Bush trimming and grass cutting will be the most effective way to keep those pests at bay.

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Make an extra effort when preparing the housekeeping strategy so certain rodents, such as bed bugs, termites, ticks, and so on, can live in filthy laundry and moist areas for extended periods. Be sure to teach your employees about common pests and supply them with information that will help them identify symptoms of infestations and initiate damage control in the event of an infestation.

Professionals Working with Health Care Institutions Should Follow These Guidelines!

Every type of health care employee and every hospital area must be included in an effective pest control campaign. The following are some traditional pest-prevention tips:

• Identify and remove moisture sources in different plumbing fields, such as broken pipes and clogged drains.

• Keep the food well sealed and packed, especially in kitchens and cafeterias.

• When placing food delivery packages in the kitchen and check them.

• Maintain a clean and well-ventilated storage space.
• Instead of neon lamps, which draw flying insects, use sodium vapor lights throughout the facility’s immediate exterior. If fluorescent lamps must be used, they should be of high quality.

• Since certain insects are attracted to rotting timber, repair deteriorated exterior wood on houses.

• Patch loose mortar around the frame and lower-level walls, as well as replace weather stripping.

• Check for mouse droppings in controlled environments, such as closets and recycling areas.

• Check for kitchen sink clogs daily and also under appliances such as freezers and refrigerators.

• Ensure that all entryways, including those in storage areas, are kept closed and never propped open.

Pest control and management are inextricably linked to the general protection and cleanliness of health care facilities. Instead, it must be considered crucial to achieving these targets. Putting a successful, competent pest control policy is an investment in customers’ and workers’ wellbeing and keeping a favorable public profile.

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