Protect Against Ebola Outbreaks

The recent Ebola outbreak that spread outwards from Africa has scared millions of people. Although the disease is frightening, those with the highest risk of exposure are health care professionals and the family and friends of infected individuals. Only trained professionals should attempt to handle anything where there is suspicion of Ebola contamination.

EnviroMet offers a range of products to help clean up, disinfect, properly dispose of and transport contaminated materials properly, thus reducing exposure to Ebola Outbreaks. From Overpack/Salvage Drums that come in a range of sizes, to Haz-Mat Kits, to Spill Kits. Following are the basic steps to clean and disinfect an Ebola outbreak as stated by osha.gov.

Steps to clean an Ebola outbreak according to osha.gov

• Isolate the the contaminated area.
• Cover any contaminated spills with the wide variety of absorbent pads EnviroMet offers.
• Disinfect any contaminated objects with the a registered Ebola outbreak disinfectant by soaking the materials in it for 30 minutes.. We offer Sanizide, which comes in our KT-2HM haz-mat kit. If no registered disinfectants are around, use common household bleach. Use a ratio of 1:10, bleach:water.
• Double bag the contaminated objects, and place in a leak-proof container using tongs. EnviroMet offers many sizes of overpack drums for this purpose, ranging from 20 gallon drums to 95 gallon drums. Place sharps in a puncture-proof drum.
• Ventilate the disinfected area.
• After the cleaning and disinfecting process is over, properly dispose of the gloves, face shield or goggles, gown, and the mask or respirator. EnviroMet also offers gloves, face shield, goggles, and masks in various spill kits.
• Wash hands with soap or an alcohol based hand gel.
• Avoid spraying any infected area to clean it. Spraying may cause bioaerosols (infected particles that float in the air).

Click here for a report on the DOT Guidance for Preparing Packages of Ebola Contaminated Waste for Transportation and Disposal.

As always, make sure to follow the OSHA, CDC, DOT, and HMR regulations and guidelines. OSHA also offers on-site consultation at osha.gov/consultation. Also, only trained professional should ever come in close proximity to an Ebola outbreak.

Information gathered at:
osha.gov
cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp
phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/transporting-infectious-substances
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html