With temperatures dropping and winter storms brewing, your facility’s maintenance staff is no doubt on high alert for freezing pipes, power outages, and heavy snowfalls. The precautionary measures they’re taking to keep patients safe and warm, however, may also be creating a welcoming environment for unwelcome visitors—pests.
The cold winter months drive pests—including mice, rats, and insects—to seek food, water, shelter, and warmth inside your facility. Their presence can compromise patient safety and introduce contamination: rodents can carry disease agents like E. Coli, Salmonella, and Hantavirus, while cockroaches can pick up harmful bacteria and leave droppings that can trigger asthma attacks.
The best prescription for pest-related issues? A proactive plan to keep them from getting inside in the first place. Because pests can crawl, fly, be carried in, and otherwise sneak inside in many ways, you should pay special attention to your facility’s entrances so you can shut pests out. In a survey of Association for the Healthcare Environment members earlier this year, one in five respondents cited entrances as a key challenge for managing pests.
Here are some tips to follow this season:
Seal entrances. Mice can squeeze through holes the size of a dime, while immature cockroaches can fit through openings the size of a pen tip. Close unnecessary openings with weather-resistant sealant and incorporate mesh in the sealant to prevent rodents from gnawing through. Install door sweeps and use weather stripping to minimize gaps. Consider using automatic or double doors for frequently used entrances, like delivery zones and patient entrances, to keep pests out.
Establish positive airflow. Literally push pests out the door by adjusting the airflow at your entrances so air flows out, not in. Test the airflow by standing in an open doorway with a strip of paper in hand. If the paper blows away from the building, the airflow is positive. Work with an HVAC professional to correct negative airflow. For extra protection in high-traffic areas, create an air curtain pests can’t penetrate by vertically mounting fans on either side of a doorway.
Install window screens.Windows can let in more than just light. Fit windows with #16 mesh screens, or repair any damaged screens, to block even the smallest pests from entering. Keep windows closed as much as possible and sealed properly.
