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Linen Services

Foreign Objects in Linen Training Material

Save linen – remove foreign objects

We heard you loud and clear in your survey answers: you don’t like finding tape residue on clean flannels. We agree - tape and other adhesives left on linens going to the wash ruin more than 2000 pieces of flannel every single month. 

While 3sHealth does recycle the linens that tape ruins, the cost of replacing these flannels could be redirected to other needs. Also, not using these linens to the end of their natural life cycle is bad for the environment.

All it takes to ruin a piece of flannel is to leave a bandage or a piece of tape on it when it goes to the wash. The adhesive residue gets baked on the linens, rendering them useless. 

We need your help to preserve these linens. Please remove adhesives and other foreign objects before sending soiled linens to the wash. The easiest way to remember to remove these objects is by practicing piece-by-piece bed stripping.

Read: Putting bad linens to good use.

Medical equipment doesn’t belong in the laundry

In August of 2019, over $15,000 worth of medical equipment was sent to K-Bro through soiled linens. The equipment included six syringe pumps, three SPO2 monitors, a Welch Allen thermometer, and a telemetry transmitter. 

These devices are not always labelled. While they are used again in the health-care system, they do not necessarily make it back to the unit they came from. 

Misplacing medical equipment is expensive, but it can also be dangerous to linen plant employees. That same month, over two pounds of needles and almost 100 other sharps, such as surgical scissors, were found in the linen. 

The best way to keep fellow health-care employees safe and your units’ equipment where it belongs is to practice piece-by-piece bed stripping. This method guarantees that only linens go to the laundry.

Keep patient belongings safe

“My iPad is missing!”

A patient at a Regina hospital left her bed for a physiotherapy appointment. When she returned, her bed had been made for her with fresh linens. Unfortunately, her iPad was nowhere to be found. Two nurses sprang into action and used their break time to find the device. They located it in a soiled linen bag. The patient was relieved and extremely grateful for the nurses’ efforts. 

This all-too-common experience for patients can be prevented by following the standard process of piece-by-piece bed stripping. This process ensures that teddy bears, electronic devices, and grandma’s ring do not end up in the laundry.

As the patient told 3sHealth, “doing things faster isn’t acceptable when it results in the patients’ emotional and/or financial expense.” Many of the wedding rings, phones, clothing, and other personal items that end up at K-Bro go unclaimed. 

If a patient is missing any belongings, please contact K-Bro Linen Systems immediately.

Read: Lost and found: the adventures of Peter Rabbit.