You wouldn’t think it. I know I didn’t until my youngest daughter (when she was a baby), dropped her pacifier on the floor of a hospital room. I reached down to wash it while the nurse was giving me a very strange look. She asked for it and threw it away. We said that we could just wash it with soap, but she insisted that we shouldn’t risk it. I was a little confused. She continued to explain that although they do clean regularly, a hospital is filled with people coming and going that are sick. Most of their illnesses are catchy. The germs are everywhere, no matter how often or hard they clean.
Then it made sense to me. It had never crossed my mind before. I had always assumed that a hospital or Dr’s. office was clean – really clean. However, it’s just the opposite. One little germ could slip by to another person – anything from a cold virus to something as serious as E coli or Salmonella. Emergency rooms strive to work quickly and efficiently. The people that clean those rooms before another patient comes in are only human. They can’t see the germs, so they just have to do their best. That person could even be you or me.
Now that we know the truth of how hospitals and Dr’s. offices could be crawling with germs, what can we do? Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do. If we are in the emergency room, there is usually a very good reason for our presence. We just have to be very careful about what we touch, wash our hands, and try not to touch our faces – especially our mouths, noses and eyes. Bacteria can travel pretty fast this way. Another safe step to take would be to take a shower when you get home. Who would’ve thought we could get sick in a place where we go to get better?
Stay safe!