The state of the art in the war against MRSA and related superbugs (such as the wonderfully named Clostridium Difficile) is alcohol-based antiseptic handwash. Hospitals now have dispensers of alcohol handwash mounted above basins at the entrance to most wards and within the wards themselves. Staff and visitors are supposed to clean their hands (at least) every time they enter the ward in order to avoid bringing bacteria in with them. The problem is that more than 60% of the public just don't bother. Worse still, that goes for over 70% of nurses and 90% of doctors, who are more likely to be carrying the bacteria in the first place. Did they study disease transmission at medical school?

Many wards already have automatic doors that open hydraulically in response to a button or IR sensor, and those that don't can have them easily retrofitted. All we need is to install the door control within the handwash dispenser itself so that you have to use it in order to operate the door. Admittedly it's not 100% foolproof (tailgating will still be an issue) but it should be enough to change people's habits - which is where the problem lies at the moment.
-- wagster, Oct 02 2006

adapt nice knobs nice_20knobs
[po, Oct 02 2006]

Failure to comply involves being locked in a ward and being coughed on.
-- zen_tom, Oct 02 2006


You'll just see doors jammed open, even if you are successful in instituting these controls in a place where doctors are likely to be sprinting to emergencies.
-- DrCurry, Oct 02 2006


Why not replace the doors with a portcullis that extends down to the liquid surface of an isopropyl alcohol moat. One must swim through the alcohol, under the portcullis to ensure complete immersion, in order to enter/exit the ward.
-- Texticle, Oct 02 2006


Texticle, you've been reading Andromeda Strain, haven't you?
-- DesertFox, Oct 03 2006


Mmm... alcohol moat. [+]
-- m_Al_com, Oct 03 2006


What would be the punishment for tailgating, do the doors slamm shut on you?, do you end up looking like a chook who's been hit with the back of the axe?

Sounds like a great idea, but hospital's would never invest in such things, not in Aust. anyway.

They did a test on some door handles in a major sydney hospital, and the average number of different urine protiens was seventeen, yumm, that'll make you use the lunch room!
-- Stork, Oct 03 2006


[21Q] and [Dr. C] are quite right - a ten second delay probably wouldn't be a good idea. I've removed that bit from the idea so that the door opens as soon as you dispense handwash, that makes it no slower than the button push doors in use today. You don't have to use the handwash if you're in a hurry, but you'll look a bit silly doing that at walking pace.

Of course [Texticle]'s variation is still far superior.
-- wagster, Oct 03 2006


Bump. In light of present situation.
-- wagster, Mar 13 2020


I thought Clostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile was the one that had a hard shell that kept it safe from alcohol, and therefore was only vulnerable to soap and water (among the common hand disinfection methods, anyway)? *checks Wikipedia* Hmm… not the bacterium itself, but its spores. Those can survive alcohol, heat, stomach acid, and "routine surface cleaning".
-- notexactly, Mar 15 2020



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