Deadly bacteria on EMS equipment

My last two post have been about MRSA and some breaking news. I have been searching for more updates and I ended up finding this report:

News4 WOAI uncovers a new study that finds MRSA could be carried on about one-third of the stethoscopes used by Emergency Medical Service Workers.
Firefighters and EMT workers in San Antonio got an email today as a reminder to clean their instruments.

Stephen Schott has been an EMT for sixteen years and says every morning he scrubs down his ambulance and after every call, he cleans it again.

“There’s so many different patients and so many different medical conditions and germs that are out there. It really does need to be cleaned often.”

A new Reuters study claims an item used on every patient can easily be the carrier of the dangerous and deadly bacteria, MRSA. Dr. Craig Manifold, the Medical Director of the San Antonio Fire Department, explains the study to News4 WOAI.

“The particular study looked at the stethoscope, not something that we typically think of as an item that can be contaminated, but often goes from patient to patient. So I wanted to make sure that they’re aware and go through and refresh their minds on the cleaning processes.”

Manifold says simply wiping down the stethoscopes with alcohol or soap and water after each patient will stop the spread of the infection.

Here is the link to the original story: MRSA