IPC Update

Oct. 10, 2020 | Health, Safety & Environment Coordinator

Note: To find topics from previous bulletins, please use the search icon [🔎] in the top right-hand corner of this page.

Dear Staff, Faculty and Students,

Welcome to our new IPC communications tool! 

The COVID-19 pandemic has created infection control challenges and many necessary changes to our clinical and simulation processes and protocols. As the global and regional COVID-19 situation evolves there will inevitably be more changes coming. This update will be sent out each week to communicate any changes and to celebrate what has been working well for us and what could use some improvement from an IPC perspective. There will be links included to provide additional information as required. You can access past weekly IPC Updates according to their date by clicking on this link or visiting Dentranet> What's Happening?> School of Dentistry Updates We’ve also created a School of Dentistry IPC Frequently Asked Questions page that will be linked in our IPC Updates. The FAQ page will feature answers to your most commonly asked questions. The FAQ page will be updated and added to on a weekly basis so please check back regularly.

Our IPC Officer, Dr. Khaled Altabtbaei and our IPC Coordinator, Ronna Richardson-Lozano have created a new email address for all things IPC. If you have questions, concerns, suggestions or kudo’s to send please email dentIPC@ualberta.ca 

We’ve returned to campus safely and our clinics, labs and simulation spaces are humming with the activities of staff, students and faculty! Here are some of the things we can celebrate getting right this week…

• • Everyone has done a great job coming prepared for in-person learning. You’ve managed to find scrubs, hair covers and full face shields during global PPE shortage - Fantastic!

  • In both the SimLab and OHC everyone is working hard to understand and follow our new IPC and PPE protocols. Here is a link to our online IPC learning resource, check back often for updates and new additions

  • You’ve been using the Fit for Work questionnaire and following our illness reporting processes! Our system is working well. We’ve made some changes to the form to focus on the information we need to keep everyone safe and help with contact tracing if required. Here is a link to review the Changes to the Fit for Work Screening Form  

Learning  the “why” behind our IPC protocols is vital to helping us build confidence and compliance.  Knowing the basic concepts in the chain of infection will help you think critically and make sound clinical decisions regarding infection prevention and control. Be sure to read our weekly IPC Updates and visit our Frequently Asked Questions to be up-to-date during in-person learning. This week, we’ve included a link to our IPC FAQ living document where you can find answers to the questions below and many more. 

To see answers to questions that were asked this week and many more visit School of Dentistry IPC FAQ:

1) What is an Aerosol Generating Procedure aka AGP?

2) I’m confused about when to don, doff or change my gown. Can you please clarify?

3 ) My patient has to go to the washroom or radiology, what do I need to know about moving my patient around the OHC? 

Have IPC Questions, Concerns or Positive Comments? Email dentIPC@ualberta.ca.

Sincerely,
Dr. Khaled Altabtbaei, IPC Officer
Ronna Richardson-Lozano, IPC Coordinator