View the white paper written by Man & Machine founder, Clifton Broumand.
Clinical Workstations & MDRO’s
A new pilot study exposes a gap between the clinical workstations and the patients bedside in the ICU. These areas are outside the routine cleaning zones and have been found to have 7 times the levels of illness causing microorganisms. These gap areas include keyboards and mice which have been found to be significant contributors to high levels of microorganism when not part of a routine room cleaning.
A point not mentioned in the study would be the possible cause of this dilemma could be lack of knowledge of a viable option and clear direction on how to address these hard to clean areas. Perhaps the question should be, how should keyboards be disinfected and with what? The solution is Man & Machine true Medical Grade ™ keyboards and mice.
Our keyboards help bridge these gaps by allowing for proper routine disinfection and allowing for terminal cleaning when required. In critical clinical areas the Man & Machine Sealed, Medical Grade ™ keyboards should be part of every facility’s Environmental Hygiene program especially in critical clinical areas.
View the report here.
New & Improved Oil Resistant Keyboard
2013 marked the year that Man & Machine, based in Maryland, introduced the world’s first silicone, oil-resistant keyboard. Feedback from our introduction at IMTS was overwhelmingly positive. Customers who took advantage of our half-price, introductory trial offer were impressed.
With continued efforts of our engineering team, we have developed a new material that has even better resistance to the oils commonly used in the industrial world. We are proud to introduce our new generation, “essentially oil-proof” material available on select keyboard models like our ever popular Really Cool. This upgraded model is scheduled for delivery beginning in the first quarter of 2016. Contact us now to be first on the list to try this new “beast” for your tough environments.
Hospital Keyboards: More Than Just Simple Input Devices
Since I began selling keyboards and mice into hospitals years ago, one thing resonates with me over and over again, keyboards are more than just simple input devices. They should be viewed as a critical tool helping save lives. Why do I say this? Because keyboards are high touch surfaces housed in hospital clinical areas where they are exposed to blood and other pathogens. This is why the best option for a hospital are medical grade keyboards and mice. Cheap Chinese keyboards are available everywhere, but then so are medical gloves, needles and even surgical knives. Why compromise you and your patients health with a cheaply made Chinese keyboard that can harbor and spread disease causing microorganisms in cracks and crevices? Even cheap “sealed” keyboards often have gaps where bioburden hides. There are so many brands, looks, feels, and styles of keyboards out there today. This is why, you should talk to me or one of my colloquies before making an expensive mistake.
Let me give you some food-for-thought on finding the best solution for keyboards in clinical medical environments.
I hope my first blog has been insightful. Please allow me to educate you further on the advantages of Man & Machine solutions by contacting me at kevin@mmimd.com.
Guidelines for Keyboard Cleaning
Visiting numerous hospitals I’ve noticed most facilities don’t have protocols for cleaning and disinfecting keyboards. Here is what I suggest:
Best Practice Protocol for addressing cross contamination at your multi user keyboard should be to wipe off your keyboard throughout the day. Wiping keyboards off throughout the day will reduce microorganisms by 99%, if not you will have 31% increase (Clorox study).
Lock Your Keys Using Man & Machine’s Tru-lock™ feature, wipe down after each use, shift, case or patient visit.
Remove All Visible Soil Bio-burden, gross contaminates and blood lead to infection.
Recommend Five Seconds of Friction Use any EPA approved alcohol wipe.
Remove Gloves Hand hygiene should be performed; hands should be washed with soap & water for 20 seconds, an alcohol rub applied to the hands prior to donning a new set of gloves.
In clinical areas with high-touch keyboards, they should be able to be terminally cleaned if needed.
Terminally Cleaned:
Keyboard should be sealed, low profile, submersible, hygienic white, withstand 1:10 bleach ratio.
The keyboard needs to be cleaned of all visible soil, bio-burden and gross contaminates then “Submersed” with 10% bleach solution in accordance with CDC Guidelines for blood spills and/or any EPA approved disinfectant/sporicidal to remove all known microorganisms.
The bottom line, keyboards are high touch items that don’t clean themselves. Get a plan together and implement that plan. If you need more help on developing a cleaning protocol, please write me at harry@mmimd.com.
Visits with Lawmakers
Over the years, Man & Machine’s Big Cheese, Clifton Broumand, has had a number of visits with U.S. lawmakers. He has been asked to voice his opinion on topics such as health care, minimum wage and other small business concerns.
He has preformed press conferences, participated in meetings and given tours of Man & Machine headquarters to sitting heads of state.
Clifton is well-versed in business affairs, tech issues and on infection control. If you are looking for an expert for a news story or a public event, reach out to us at info@mmimd.com.
Check out some of the visits below:
Clifton holds news conference with U.S. Senators and another business owner to discuss the impact of raising the minimum wage.
Attending the nomination of Maria Contreras-Sweet.
Meeting with Harry Reid after US Senate Democratic meeting on minimum wage. In attendance were 20 United States Senators. Clifton was invited as an owner of a small business to give his input.
In July 2007, Broumand gave President George W. Bush a tour of the Man & Machine keyboard manufacturing facility.
After giving then President George W. Bush a tour of the facility, Clifton participated in a roundtable on healthcare. Learn more here
Bacteria-laden Keyboards are a Growing Threat
View the article written by Man & Machine founder, Clifton Broumand for Advantech’s publication MedAdvantech.
Minimize Infections with Disinfectable PC Keyboards – White Paper
Read our paper detailing the risk involved with standard keyboards and how regular washing of waterproof keyboards can help y lower hospital acquired infection risks.
Man & Machine’s Big Cheese Says No To Nano
From The American Association Of Clinical Chemistry’s 08 Annual Meeting
Clifton Broumand, The Big Cheese of Man & Machine, Inc. and manufacturer of hygienic medical keyboards and mice addresses the AACC about his resistance to using microbe resistant coatings and additives.
At a time when infection control is desperately needed to curtail the fatalities and expense of hospital-acquired infections, why would Mr. Broumand avoid using microbe killers like nanosilver and Microban on and in his medical keyboards? “Manufacturers jumping on the antibacterial bandwagon aren’t taking a long-view approach by employing coatings with nanomaterials and pesticides that might have detrimental environmental consequences,” says Broumand.
Indeed, nanotechnology has not long been under the microscope. Nano particles of silver such as AGion are valued for their ability to keep bacteria at bay. Nanosilver is used in socks, bandages, back support pillows, and hundreds of items that come into direct contact with the human body. Microban, also known as Triclosan, is used in plastics, clothing, dishwashing liquid, cosmetics, lotions, toothpastes and a host of items that are actually ingested. The public embraces these antibacterial agents as healthy, protective additives. But what are the risks? What happens when the coatings wear off, break down and are leeched into the environment? Or, enter into the bloodstream?
According to the Nanotechnology International Forum Nano Werk, silver nanoparticles have the potential to cause health and ecotoxicity issues in a concentration-dependent manner. Science Daily reports that silver nanoparticles are toxic and may be killing beneficial bacteria in our wastewater treatment systems.
Microban is a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans. It is registered as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency. Long-term and repeated exposure to pesticides can damage the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs and cause paralysis, sterility, hormonal disruption and immune suppression. The EPA considers Microban a high risk for human health and the environment.
“Man & Machine actively chooses not to use anti-bacterial additives.” Broumand states. “Since we don’t know what threats these nanomaterials and low level pesticides pose in the long run, why go there when we can be hygienic by design?” In fact, his non-porous rubber Cool keyboards have no cracks, crevices or seams in which bacteria can hide and grow. The durable keyboards can be submerged, disinfected, washed or wiped clean in seconds. Man & Machine minimizes the use of chemicals in order to minimize their potential harmful effects. “By limiting the use of antimicrobials,” The Big Cheese adds, “we also limit bacteria’s ability to adapt to methods of disinfection. We outsmart them. That’s our specialty.”
Man & Machine’s Medical Grade keyboards
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Man & Machine Inc., established in 1982, is an international innovator and manufacturer of computer accessories designed to limit the spread of harmful microbes and infections in health care environments. Since the introduction of the first MMI designed water-resistant keyboard in 2002, the company has been leading the industry in manufacturing ergonomic, high quality and fairly priced keyboards and mice. MMI has offices in Maryland, The Netherlands and Shenzhen, China.