Hand Washing Stops Illness

It’s so simple.   Yet so effective!    Hand Washing is so very, very important.   Hand washing stops illness because adults and children are erasing the germs accumulated at work, at school, at the store, at day care – wherever!

Hand Washing Stops Illness – but do it correctly

Most of us wash our hands far too quickly.   A too-quick washing gets rather close to having no value, regardless the soap we used.

Here’s what you need:

– soap, you bet

– lots of friction

– 20 seconds long

Hand Washing Stops Illness

Hand Washing Stops Illness

Hand washing – Best Thing for Babysitters to do with the children

When I teach my youth Babysitting CPR classes, we pretend to wash our hands while I count to 20 for them.   It *really* illuminates to them how long 20 seconds really is.   We all chuckle because 20 seconds starts to feel long – that’s why adding a little song is so popular to do so the 20 seconds has fun associated with it.    Hands down, the length of time, along with the soap, is what makes hand washing the GERM KILLER we all need.

Everyone in the family – and even your community – benefits from stopping germs and disease from being spread due to the ceaseless number of surfaces we all touch.   We touch tables, desks, doorknobs, light switches, keyboards, chairs, etc., etc.

Hand washing stops illness

BOTH Babysitters and children wash hands often!

Please watch this short video clip from the Center for Disease Control where its Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, explains how important hand washing is to you  and your family.    School has begun and we all know that constant interaction between hundreds and hundreds of students can explode the incidence of colds, flu, sore throats, and more.

Another excellent piece of information from the CDC is their category of “Show Me The Science“.    One of the areas of this category is called “Why Wash Your Hands?”

Antibacterial soap?    Nah….

The famous Mayo Clinic reminds us that regular soap is better to use than antibacterial soap, stating, “Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap might even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product’s antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.”

Mayo Clinic offers a nice list called Hand Washing:  Do’s and don’ts.

Many times per day!

Just home from work or school?   Wash your hands FIRST.

Handled food, pets, dirty shoes?    Wash your hands.     It’s a win – win!

dont-spread-germs

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Jean Lesmeister, 16 year Babysitting CPR, Adult CPR & First Aid Instructor

American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI)

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