Purell Hand Sanitizer Is Easy To Keep On Hand

by erin on March 18, 2011

When cold and flu germs run amuck, it’s a good idea to pack some Purell hand sanitizer. Killjoy scientists have recently informed the public that germs are more readily spread by shaking hands than by kissing. It’s especially important to wash hands before eating or touching your eyes nose and mouth after touching a germ-laden object or person.

Shaking hands may be more dangerous in the rapidity with which it spreads germs. But kissing has its own dangers. You never know what kissing might lead to.

Married persons have been known to look around at a house full of kids and a bicycle-strewn lawn that needs to be mowed and realized that it all started with one fateful kiss. There’s nothing any hand sanitizer can do to stop that kind of runaway train. But once parents realize they have produced a tribe of germ carriers they can start teaching them about hand washing to stop the unbridled spread of colds and flu.

People who work in hospitals learn to wash their hands before eating. There are some hospital worker who learned so well they can’t eat without washing first. That’s because of the movies they watch in orientation. These films were probably made by the same people who made the blood-and-guts-on-the-highway films they used to show in Driver Education classes.

While not exactly great art, these films very convincingly tell the tale of what happens when an unsuspecting hospital worker touches something that had been in contact with a horrifying, contagious disease. This careless unsuspecting soul then fails to wash before lunch. It’s not exactly giving away the surprise ending to say that the unwashed worker contracts the deadly disease and suffers horribly.

Health care workers as well as people who work in restaurants and food processing plants learn the Happy Birthday hand-washing rule. The rule says that hands should be rubbed vigorously with hot water and soap for as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice. It should not be sung quickly like you can’t wait to get some cake. Sing it slowly like you are embarrassing someone you love in a public venue.

After a fresh batch of new hires sees the hand-washing horror movie, the employee restrooms sound like one big birthday party. That’s good as far as it goes but even hospital employees don’t have access to hot water and soap everywhere they go. Fortunately many heath care facilities and other public places make available dispensers of antibacterial products for general use.

Hygiene enthusiasts are happy to see that many grocery stores provide disposable wipes for cleaning grocery cart handles. Nobody seems to mind if you grab a couple extra and give your hands a good scrubbing. Most people don’t wash every time they touch money, blow their nose or pet an animal but they probably should.

There are many opportunities in the course of a day to pick up germs and far fewer opportunities to wash without vinyl gloves. Any time you can kill a few disease bearing bacteria, it’s probably a good idea. You could buy a few boxes of those grocery cart wipers to keep in your car. And you could stock up on Purell hand sanitizer to carry in pocket or purse.

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