Dirty hands can kill you!

80 percent of all infections are spread by dirty hands.

Infections can cause mild or very serious illnesses, and many people die from infections.

Your hands become contaminated when you touch just about anything.

94% of money is contaminated, yet only 21% of people wash their hands after handling money.

500 times more germs can live on office desks and telephones than on the typical public toilet seat.

Flu viruses can survive on surfaces up to 8 hours.

A sneeze may produce up to 40,000 contaminated droplets traveling a speed of more than 200 miles per hour. Those droplets can stay in the air for hours.

Soap and water kill most germs.

Fight grime and save lives by washing your hands

Washing out hands is our best defense against germs that make us sick. Wash your hands with soap and clean running water for 20 seconds. If soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer andyou’re your hands together.

When washing hands with soap and water:

· Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.

· Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.

· Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Make sure to ring your thumbs and wrists, interlace your fingers, get the back of your hands and under your nails.

· Rinse hands well under running water

· Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet

When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

· Apply product to the palm of one hand

· Rub hands together

· Rub the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry.

When should you wash your hands?

· Before preparing or eating food

· After going to the bathroom

· After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom

· Before and after tending to someone who is sick

· After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing

· After handling an animal or animal waste

· After handling garbage

· Before and after treating a cut or wound

About the GSI:SC Campaign

Started by the South Carolina Hospital Association, the Grime Scene campaign is the first statewide effort to raise awareness of the importance of clean hands. Hospitals and communities in South Carolina have implemented the campaign, which has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a model campaign for other communities.

South Carolina Clean Hands Day!

On May 5, 2010, SCHA and its partners celebrated the one-year anniversary of the South Carolina statewide hand hygiene collaborative. May 5 has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the official day to celebrate hand hygiene. Read the letter WHO sent in support and recognition of the statewide hand hygiene campaign.

SCHA and the collaborative held a press conference from the Statehouse discussing the efforts and accomplishments of the statewide campaign. SC Representatives Tracy Edge, Kris Crawford and Ted Vick and Senator Ralph Anderson introduced a joint resolution that was accepted by the General Assembly to designate the day as SC Clean Hands Day. SCHA, HOSA and IHI Open School students set up a GSI: SC grime scene on the Statehouse grounds to reach the community with information about the importance of hand hygiene.

South Carolina Clean Hands Day Highlights

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