A Resolution We All Need to Make

By: Carrol Ann Kilinski

AMS PTSA President &Legislative Chair

There are millions of resolutions made each year and many are broken before you even practice the resolution once! Here is a very important resolution, a very simple practice that everyone of all ages can do to improve your life and the lives of others.

It does not cost a lot, it is simple, and everyone can learn to do it! In fact, it is right at the tips of your fingers! HAND WASHING… the single most effective way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, infections, and food-born illnesses.

Just think for a few moments about the classroom setting and the children sharing items and how many times in a daycare a toy enters a child’s mouth. How many shopping carts have you touched or door handles that have the germs from those that have passed before us that did not wash their hands after completing their personal needs.

Many of our school districts, throughout the state have had concerns and been alarmed about the spread of MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus), pinworms, meningitis, infectious diarrhea, influenza, common colds and hepatitis A. These infections could be cut down if we practiced proper hand washing.

Proper hand-washing destroys or at least can cut down on the germs from other people, animals or objects that other people have touched.

I personally have a child that contracted MRSA recently and spent three days in the hospital with her. This infection can spread quickly, getting into the tissue or bones and becomes extremely painful. I urge you to take some of the simple steps below to help cut back the chances of you or your family member from contracting some of the infections listed above.

Take a few moments to teach your children the proper way to wash their hands and you will be teaching a skill that can last a life time.

Simple steps to wash your hands include:

• Wet your hands with running water, warm water works best.
• Rub the soap (use liquid soap and not bar soap) around the entire hand, between the fingers, and under the nails, for at least 15 seconds or longer.
• Now rinse your hands using warm water and let the water run into the sink and not down your elbows.
• Use a paper towel (do not use cloth towels) to dry your hands and turn the water off with the towel…do not use your hands to touch the faucet after washing or you have just picked up all the germ that have been left from others.
• Use a liquid soap that is safe, preferably with a microbial fighter, but any soap is more important than no soap at all. It is more important to teach proper techniques.
• Carry some hand sanitizer and some hand wipes in your purse, car, home and place some in your child’s back pack .
• I also would like to stress that you wash cuts and scrapes and keep them covered with band aides; changing your bandage regularly this will protect your injuries from germs and from spreading any germs to others.
  

For more information please visit floridashealth.com and enter “hand washing” in the search field, or go to: Wash Your Hands Florida! At: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/School/handwashing/wash_hands.html