Your Health Matters
By Claudia Parks, R.N.

After high school graduation, I left home in South Florida, to attend nursing school at Southern Baptist Hospital and Tulane University in New Orleans. I was definitely naive! Talk about an "eye-opener"- nurse's training for someone who had never been in a hospital or had related subjects in high school was in for a new experience/surprise every day. One of the very first subject topics that would be drilled into our brain- almost everyday--was very unfamiliar to us as students: "Sepsis and Asepsis". Keep in mind that we did not have the abundance of information, communications (TV and internet) and the massive reading material that we have at our disposal today.

After the definition was given, one of my classmates chimed, "Why don't you just say dirty and clean, and we'll all know what you're talking about!" The instructor immediately gave us a reading assignment other than in the textbook. Fortunately she furnished the copies of the book that we were required to read. The Cry and the Covenant, written in 1949 by Morton Thompson. Some of us were familiar with Thompson's latest 1954 novel, Not As a Stranger, a romantic medical melodrama that topped that year's list of best selling novels. Several years later it was made into a movie with Robert Mitchum, Olivia de Havilland, Frank Sinatra and many more famous stars. We were in for a shock!

The Cry and the Covenant was an extraordinary true story of heartbreak and triumph. Dr. Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, ("zam-mel-veis") whose story this is, was a pioneer in medical prophylaxis, the innovator of hand-washing and antiseptic solutions for surgeons and obstetricians. He attended medical school at the University of Vienna in the year 1837. Unbelievable as it seems, professors and their students in medical universities went from the dissecting room, where they demonstrated and practiced delivering babies from cadavers, to the Lying In (Labor Room) rooms where they examined women about to give birth- all without washing or disinfecting their hands. A gratuitous rubbing of their bloody hands on their lab coats was considered ample readiness, and in fact the presence of bloody matter on their coats was deemed almost a badge of honor. Consequently thirty to fifty percent of new mothers died of childbed fever or puerperal fever- caused by pathogenic sepsis from unclean hands!

We as students were shocked and grossed-out, but learned from this book that his medical insight and the tenacious courage that drove Semmelweis to seek a cure, even when it meant incurring the enmity of his colleagues and the scorn of his superiors, has saved millions of lives. His contribution perhaps did as much to relieve suffering and death as anyone in history. He died in obscurity in Hungary at the age of about 50 in 1845. However, Lord, Joseph Lister, who gets the credit for developing the technique of antiseptic surgery, which makes modern-day surgery possible, made this statement in 1906 at a recognition ceremony for Semmelweis. "It is the Doctrine of Semmelweis, which lies at the foundation of all our practical work of today… Without Semmelweis my achievements would be nothing. To this great son of Hungary, Surgery owes most".

Clean Hands Save Lives! (Slogan from the CDC.) Hand washing is a simple habit, something most people do without thinking. Despite the proven health benefits of frequent hand washing, many people don't practice this habit as often as they should- even after using the toilet. Throughout the day you accumulate germs on your hands from a variety of sources- everything you touch- and those that have touched it before you! You can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

When washing your hands with soap and water, make a lather and scrub all surfaces- continue for 20 seconds- imagine singing "Happy Birthday" twice through to a friend. Rinse hands well under running water and dry with a paper towel or air dryer. If possible use your paper towel to turn off the faucet and to pull open the "public" restroom door. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based gel to clean hands.

Next week I may gross out everyone, writing about some really dirty areas that we don't always think about, and some precautions you should consider.

Claudia Parks, RN, is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream. net