Kimberly-Clark Health Care strives to balance protecting health
care workers and the environment by focusing on manufacturing
practices, packaging efficiency and recycling programs.
Kimberly-Clark Health Care's priorities, infection prevention
and positive patient outcomes, are aligned with those of our
customers. Increasingly, customers are requiring that quality
health care products also include sustainability information.
Our solutions help prevent, diagnose and manage several major
issues in the clinical areas of infection prevention, digestive
health and pain management. We provide single-use products that are
important in health care because they deliver consistent quality,
dependability and consistent barrier quality and performance.
Engaging with medical specialists in
Australia
By engaging hundreds of physicians, clinicians, administrators
and patients, we gain insights into their needs.
In Australia, these insights have led us to engage hospitals on
sustainability issues. We work closely with hospitals across
Australia to educate their workers on the importance of hand
hygiene compliance to reduce the spread of healthcare-associated
infections (HAI).
The simple act of correct hand washing can help reduce
healthcare-associated infections that contribute to more than 7,000
deaths annually in Australia.
During 2009, we launched the following products to help prevent the
spread of infection:
Fluidshield PFR95 N95 Respirator Singles
By providing individual packaging, healthcare workers,
especially EMTs and ER personnel, can now easily carry N95
Respirator masks, which were in great demand during the H1N1
pandemic.
Protection Selection Online Tool
This tool provides online assistance to medical personnel when
purchasing personal protective equipment. The virtual healthcare
model assists in selecting the most effective personal protective
equipment by asking various questions concerning the procedure or
task to be performed. The model provides product recommendations
that offer the right level of protection needed.
Lavender Glove
This alternative to vinyl gloves offers excellent protection
without using poly vinyl chloride. There are also more gloves per
box, reducing the amount of packaging used. We expanded their
availability in the U.S. and Japan.
Sterling Nitrile-Xtra exam glove
These longer-cuffed gloves provide greater protection from
fluids and reduce the risk of infection for emergency medical
personnel, decontamination area workers and other clinicians
Two-hour option oral care kit portfolio
Part of our ongoing commitment to help clinicians address
ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), which is a risk to all
patients on a ventilator, the Kimvent Oral Care q2 Kit allows
caregivers to clean the equipment in the mouths of patients on a
ventilator every two hours, helping to reduce the risk of VAP. We
have also reduced packaging by 30 percent.
Personal protective equipment dispensing
system
This ergonomically designed dispensing system makes it simple
and convenient for caregivers to wash their hands and change
personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks when moving
between patients. The system is in accordance with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for isolation
precautions, and makes hand sanitizer, gloves, gowns and masks
easily accessible.
