Infection Control during X-Rays
Posted By: Martine Moriarty 
Date Posted: May 26th, 2010 Category: Other
I had X-Rays taken at the Missouri Baptist Radiology and Lab, down the hall from my doctor’s office in Building A (it was not in the hospital “proper”), this week. As I sat and waited for my turn to get my X-Rays taken, I saw a number of people taken in and out of the X-Ray room. The stainless steel bed/platform had a pillow on it. There was never a cover put over the pillow or the pillow changed, that I could see, between patients. No tissue covering was put on the steel bed between patients, nor did I see the bed sprayed and cleaned between patients coming in for X-Rays. I wasn’t as bothered by the steel bed not being covered as I was by the pillow being used for every person being X-Rayed that day, without a different cover over it. Bacteria and head lice could be transferred between people laying on that pillow. During my X-Rays, I was instructed to turn on my side, so the side of my face was touching the pillow. This is very poor infection control. It would only take a second for the technician to place a tissue covering over the pillow between patients. What if someone comes in with MRSA and I have a cut or abrasion on my face? The current practice is putting patients at risk. Almost everyone was wearing a gown when they were X-rayed, but not everyone. People were X-Rayed in street clothes. This, too, could add bacteria to the table. I can understand not putting a tissue cover on the steel bed, because it would tear when a patient moved into different positions. But shouldn’t the bed be cleaned? Quite frankly, I’ve seen platforms at cat shows cleaned between animals being judged, and this was more than was done in this X-ray room. The technicians in my vet’s office cleans off the exam tables between appointments, and if they don’t, I ask them to do it. My GYN’s office puts clean tissue covers down on exam beds between each appointment. I know everyone is trying to save time, but I think making some changes in infection control during X-Rays would be beneficial to the patients. Let me know what you think….
Comment By: Beth Fagan
Date & Time: May 27, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Thank you for writing. At Missouri Baptist, we take infection prevention very seriously and have strict protocols for disinfecting each and every patient exam room. What you have helped us realize is that because tables and upright screens often are cleaned PRIOR to a patient leaving the room, incoming patients like yourself may not see this disinfection process.
As a result of your comment, we realize that we need to change our processes so incoming patients actually see the disinfection taking place! So, thank you for helping us make medicine better.
In addition, you should know that in the x-ray rooms, our tables always are wiped with disinfectant and our pillow slips changed after each usage. Not every exam, however, uses the table and/or pillow. Exams are performed both upright and lying down. It is possible for several exams to take place using the upright screen before the table is ever used. This would mean the table would never even be touched. Again, we thank you for taking the time to comment. Your concerns will help us train our staff on best practices in communicating our infection prevention practices to patients. Please contact me tomorrow at 314-996-7571 if you have additional concerns. Beth F, director of communications.
Comment By: Rosemary Azevedo-Martins
Date & Time: October 7, 2010 at 10:02 am
Referancing the above issue..my husband is an x-ray tech in 2 local hospitals in Cal..this is a problem in all medical facilities… Heath inspections have shown the cultures of the x-ray table and guerney mats have harbored the MRSA bacteria for up to 6mos. Like staph and psuedomonis bacterias they are capable of lying dormant for months …
If the tech uses waterless wash between pts and had uv light wand to use on all surfaces in departmants it may be possible to control if not stop spread of infections…also might suggest that anyone coming in to any dr. office with possible cold/flu or pneumonia symptons should be given a mask and handwash. they are going to sit in that waiting room with the elderly, infants and post surgery pt.. stop the spread as they check in.. the registration staff does not wipe down between check ins or as the pt is called back for tx, x-rays or labs. Better training of frontline personnel could put a damper on spread and give all pts a better chance of recovery. With the medical industry focusing on productivity of departments and not on quality of care, we should follow other consumer rules…BUYER BE WARE!