During these troubling times associated to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, we at The Promised Land Adult Family Home wanted to share how we have responded to this situation. Protecting the members of our home was our highest priority during this event. We took every protective steps possible to ensure the highest level of safety for our patients. In accordance to the Washington state mandated regulations, we had to implement a zero visitation policy during the quarantine phase of the states recovery program. This regulation was issued to all elderly facilities including nursing homes, memory care facilities and Adult Family Homes, like The Promised Land AFH. It was very disheartening to implement these rules, as we typically love having family and friends make visitations to their loved ones. However for the safety of our elderly (most at risk) population staying in our home, it was for the best that they maintain such social distancing.
Cleanliness was also a major portion of our response to this pandemic. According to most medical physicians, the virus is fairly easy to destroy. It can be destroyed with alcohol based sanitizers (hand sanitizer), detergent cleaners, bleach, among other sanitizing products. We already have a very frequent and thorough cleaning regimen, but we made it even more frequent and implemented Corona-killing products to cover all surfaces. Floors were mopped, all touched surfaces (including table tops, door handles, etc), among all other possible pathogen carrying surfaces were disinfected every 6 hours, as well as whenever someone entered or left the building (employees or management coming). This allowed peace of mind knowing that we were providing the safest and cleanest home for these at risk patients.
The final step we took was education and monitoring of our staff. All managers took a 3 hour certification course, ensuring that they had the most up to date information on safety practices, cleaning techniques, self and patient monitoring, along with other essential information. This course allowed our management to pass this information to the rest of the staff to allow for the greatest level of viral spread preparedness. We are taking vitals (temperature, oxygen levels, respirations, etc.) of all our residents and recorded them twice daily. We also enforce monitoring of staff to have them checked for symptoms and have their temperature taken at the start of each shift to ensure no one entering the home is carrying the disease. Unlike other larger facilities, such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities, we at The Promised Land Adult Family Home were able to keep a very close eye on our small facility, allowing for the highest level of protection from this pandemic for our members.
Please remember to respect social distancing protocols, wash your hands frequently and practice good hygienic care. We can get through this together and appreciate all who have made sacrifices to ensure the safety of our people.
Thank you,
The Promised Land Adult Family Home
Bothell Washington
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