A washer-disinfector that can be operated contact-free and reduces staff workload. It sounds like something from the future but, at BDH Clinic Elzach in Germany, the new MEIKO TopLine has already become a reality.
By MEIKO
“Insert care utensils and you’re done!—It runs itself.” Claudia Ganz, Hygiene Specialist at BDH Clinic Elzach, discusses the cleaning and disinfection process for care utensils in the new MEIKO TopLine appliances. Previously, many more touches were needed: you had to open the machine door with your clean hand whilst skilfully balancing the full bedpan in the other. Then insert the bedpan into the machine, along with the contents. Shut the machine door. Find, select and start the right program. Then rush off to wherever you were needed!
These days it is just one simple movement and a quick look to check—and that is all the human input needed in the utility room. The rest is down to the MEIKO TopLine.
Contact-Free Operation
This is all down to a feature that is new on the market: load detection by MEIKO. The assistant system suggests the correct cleaning program for the care utensils loaded and starts it automatically after a few seconds. When combined with automatic door opening and closing—available with either a hand sensor or foot switch depending on the version—you don’t even need to open or close the door by hand.
Claudia Ganz said:
“Making things as easy as possible helps us to keep more time available for our actual jobs. I think that is an important role that technology can play in our sector.”
And that was one of the ideas behind the development of this product. So that carers can go about caring. So they are not caught up with operating these machines all the time.
Smooth Running
The new operating concept is a further innovation. Has the program already ended? Is everything running smoothly? The new MEIKO TopLine appliances communicate this information using status displays, progress bars and colored lights. Blue means ‘ready for operation’, green is for ‘washing’ and red shows that there is an ‘important message’.
Nadine Heizmann, one of the nurses at BDH Clinic Elzach, explained:
“This means that just walking past it in the corridor, I can see whether the machine is still flashing green and I have time to see another patient or whether I can go and start unpacking.”
Hygienically Safe Cleaning and Disinfection
We have seen some of the benefits that the new model delivers from a care perspective, as identified by Claudia Ganz. As she is a hygienist through and through, the cleaning performance had to win her over too. And it did, passing with flying colors.
BDH Clinic Elzach specializes in neurological rehabilitation, both general and early. This means lots of patients in need of care. And lots more wash bowls, urine bottles, bedpans and kidney dishes that have to be cleaned and disinfected after use. Nadine Heizmann said:
“We have machines that can easily manage 15,000 loads per year. More, even.”
A freshly redesigned wash chamber with the wash arm on the roof and nozzles to provide higher washing pressure from the perfect positions come together to ensure a hygienic clean both inside and out for items entrusted to the MEIKO TopLine. An adjustable A0 value of up to 12,000 also ensures that BDH Clinic Elzach is equipped for the future.
Author name: Anne-Kathrin Huber
