They remove infection where you have to be
They go two at a time into a room where patients have been. They wear protective clothing and masks, visors, plastic gloves and disposable overalls. It takes about 1,5-2 hours for two people to go into all the nooks and crannies in the room, clean, disinfect and see to it that no infectious viruses or bacteria remain. It is a demanding job, warm and sweaty.
– I've never worked as hard as now, says Alexander Olofsson.
– There's a lot of overtime and extra time. Evenings and weekends as well. Sometimes we work 13 hours, says Petra Ekberg.
– Many of us have at least 25 hours overtime a month, says Sani Farajallah.
Normally CSK has six people trained in infection cleaning. Now the regional service has trained more people, up to 25. They clean everywhere in CSK.
Just now, when corona is rife, there is a special focus on the infections clinic and the emergency departments for both children and adults. Normally two people work there during the day and one at night, but now there are twice as many.
”As long as you follow the routines and do your job properly, there shouldn't be any problems”Sani Farajallah
The service workers are called in to clean a room when a patient has vacated it. But the room must first stand empty for up to two hours, so that the ventilation system can clear the air.
– We are greatly sought after. They want the rooms to be cleaned as quickly as possible, says Alexander Olofsson.
– We don't want to keep the patients waiting too long in emergency or other places, we want to get them into a room as quickly as possible. Sometimes we can have four or five rooms waiting fo us, says Petra Ekberg.
She has been working with infection cleaning for eight years. And yet she was very nervous the first time she had to clean a room after a suspected case of covid-19.
– I was almost in a panic then, and felt very much on my own. Everything was so new and we knew so little about this corona virus. I wasn't afraid of being infected myself, but I didn't want to be a carrier and infect other people.
– But we have protective clothing, we have our routines, and we know what to do. We're used to cleaning after different illnesses.
Now they have become more accustomed to the situation. They think cleaning after covid-19 patients is just like any other infection cleaning. They don't make light of it, but they are used to it, they have routines, knowledge and training for this.
– As long as you follow the routines and do your job properly, there shouldn't be any problems, says Sani Farajallah, and goes on:
– We know too that we have a lot of responsibility. To do a good job I usually imagine that my own near and dear ones will lie in this room later. I wish this job could have a higher status, but we notice that it is becoming more and more appreciated.
– Yes, sometimes the staff on the wards give us juice. They see how warm it is for us, and they realise what we do, says Petra with a smile.
