Webinar: UV Light and Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Disinfection in Long-Term Care Settings: What You Need To Know

Topic: UV Light and Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Disinfection in Long-Term Care Settings: What You Need To Know

Speakers: : Amanda Sivek, PhD, ECRI;
Margaret M. Miller, ECRI;
Hillary Hei, MPH, CIC, LSSGB, ECRI;
Mairead Smith, ECRI

CE Credits: Yes

Description:

Most assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and skilled nursing facilities seek to reduce healthcare-associated transmission of SARS-CoV-2, norovirus, multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs), and other pathogens. Ultraviolet (UV) light and hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) technologies provide an additional level of no-touch disinfection following routine surface cleaning and disinfection. ECRI’s Device Evaluation and Infection Prevention experts will examine the different technologies, discuss implementation and operational considerations, and recommend strategies for safe and effective use of each technology.

About the Speakers:

Amanda Sivek, PhD is a Principal Project Engineer I in the Device Evaluation group at ECRI. Since joining ECRI in 2015, she has worked mainly on topics relevant to the field of infection prevention and control, including the completion of laboratory evaluations of disinfection caps for needlefree intravenous connectors, ultraviolet mobile device disinfection boxes, hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems, and hand hygiene observation apps. Her recent evaluations include point-of-care blood gas analyzers and scalp cooling systems that can reduce chemotherapy-induced hair loss for some cancer patients.

Dr. Sivek completed her PhD in Bioengineering in 2015 and is an expert in in vitro and in vivo use of ventricular-assist devices (VADs); hemodynamics; and flow-induced blood damage including thrombosis, hemolysis, and sub-lethal red blood cell damage. During her graduate studies, Dr. Sivek also worked as an Artificial Heart Biomedical Engineer at UPMC Presbyterian and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh assisting in the care of adult and pediatric patients implanted with VADs.

Margaret M. Miller, BS, MT (ASCP) M, CIC, FAPIC joined the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) as an infection preventionist in December 2020. Prior to joining ECRI, Ms. Miller was the sepsis project manager at The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and a subject matter expert for HAPevolve for infection prevention, COVID-19 care in acute and post-acute facilities, sepsis, and highly infectious diseases. She is also a consultant for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and has worked to reopen international non-healthcare businesses during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Prior to joining HAP, Ms. Miller worked at Geisinger Health and most recently at Penn State Health – initially in laboratory medicine earning an advanced microbiology technologist certification (M), briefly in clinical documentation, and as an infection preventionist for over 25 years.

Ms. Miller earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from Bloomsburg University and began Master’s studies at Marywood University. She is an active member of APIC, a recent board member of APIC Chapter 043 East Central PA, has maintained certification in infection prevention (CIC) since 1996, and was designated by APIC as a fellow in infection prevention (FAPIC) in 2016. Ms. Miller is published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) and has had poster and oral presentations at national APIC conferences. During the Ebola outbreak in western Africa, she was one of a five member core team that worked to attain Ebola treatment center status for a Pennsylvania hospital.

Hillary Hei, MPH, CIC, LSSGB is a certified Infection Preventionist at ECRI after honing her infection control career in the pediatric world for 5 years. She became certified in Infection Control in 2017 and also became a certified Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt in 2019. She is a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Prevention (APIC) and serves on the national Research Committee as the liaison for the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC). Before becoming immersed in the field of Infection Prevention and Control, Hillary conducted scientific research for 3 years and worked in a healthcare microbiology laboratory. Hillary has a biology degree from Duke University and earned her Master in Public Health in Epidemiology from Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.

Mairead Smith is a Senior Project Engineer with ECRI’s Health Devices group. Since joining ECRI in 2013, she has evaluated laparoscopic and flexible endoscopic video systems, cardiac devices, and ultraviolet disinfection devices. As part of this testing, Mairead has worked closely with infection prevention experts at ECRI, as well as a microbiology lab and more than ten UV device manufacturers. She has also facilitated testing at local hospitals to assess the effectiveness of UV disinfection implementation in the real world. Prior to her work at ECRI, Mairead studied mechanical engineering at Bucknell University.