Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection: Break the Chain of Infection

Over the course of the last three years, infection prevention and healthcare technology management leaders needed to rapidly adjust to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Now, with the concurrent spread of multiple viruses, as well as bacteria and fungi, effective environmental cleaning and disinfection procedures can help eliminate pathogen reservoirs, thus breaking the chain of infection.

Join ECRI’s panel of experts for a discussion about recommendations for effective environmental cleaning and disinfection procedures. We will discuss actionable recommendations on how to enhance your cleaning and disinfection processes.

Learning objectives

During this live lab webcast, we will explore:

• The chain of infection and how effective environmental cleaning and disinfection procedures can help break it
• How to select an effective EPA-registered disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2, Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, and bloodborne pathogens
• The importance of staff training on cleaning and disinfection procedures and performance feedback
• Common mistakes to avoid

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Jason Launders

Director of Operations, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Jason Launders has been at ECRI since 1998 and is currently the director of operations for the Device Evaluation group. Jason’s primary responsibility is managing ECRI’s laboratory-based evaluations of medical technologies. Jason holds a master's degree in Medical Physics and spent his earlier time at ECRI evaluating a wide range of diagnostic imaging technology such as: CT, MRI, PACS, and Digital Radiography. Today, he is responsible for developing the content of evaluations to ensure they meet the needs of our clients.

Amanda Sivek, PhD

Principal Project Engineer I, Device Evaluation, ECRI
Since joining ECRI in August 2015, Dr. Sivek has worked on topics relevant to the field of infection prevention and control, including the completion of laboratory evaluations of disinfection caps for needlefree intravenous connectors, ultraviolet mobile device disinfection boxes, hand hygiene compliance monitoring systems, and hand hygiene observation apps. Recently, Dr. Sivek led a human factors survey study of duodenoscope reprocessing workflow and ergonomics that was published in the American Journal of Infection Control in September 2022.

Dr. Sivek completed her PhD in Bioengineering in 2015; she is a board-certified Associate – Infection Prevention and Control (a-IPC) by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology. Dr. Sivek is an expert in environmental infection control, in vitro and in vivo use of ventricular-assist devices (VADs); hemodynamics; and flow-induced blood damage. During her graduate studies, Dr. Sivek worked as an Artificial Heart Biomedical Engineer at UPMC Presbyterian and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh assisting in the care of adult and pediatric patients implanted with VADs.

James Davis, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CIC, HEM, FAPIC

Manager Infection Prevention and Control Services, ECRI
James Davis brings over 25 years of nursing experience, spanning long-term care, adult critical care, clinical decision support, education, nurse management, and infection prevention. Currently, he serves as Manager of Infection Prevention Control at ECRI, managing local and national response and multidisciplinary teams and delivering actionable plans to mitigate or eliminate threats related to infectious pathogens. Mr. Davis has also worked at Abington Memorial Hospital; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Wolters Kluwer; and Acute Care Medical Transports, Inc.

Mr. Davis has an active RN license in the state of Pennsylvania. He is board-certified in infection control and epidemiology (CIC) and holds certifications in healthcare environmental management (HEM) and adult critical care nursing (CCRN-K). He is a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Prevention (APIC), is an APIC Fellow (FAPIC), has served as President of the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Chapter, and is a past Chair of APIC’s national research committee.

Mr. Davis has provided educational programs on infection control topics for risk management groups and patient safety organizations, as well as for hospitals, long-term care facilities, and ambulatory surgery systems. He designed the second version of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority’s long-term care healthcare-acquired infection reporting system and analytics programs; he also developed tools and resources for healthcare facilities to translate and implement research into clinical practice as part of work for the Advisory, a peer-reviewed journal of the PA Safety Authority. Mr. Davis has authored multiple infection prevention and control articles and is published in several international peer reviewed journals.

Mr. Davis holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Immaculata University and a Master of Science in Nursing Education from Gwynedd Mercy College

Ericka L. Kalp, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Director, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Consulting
Dr. Kalp has 20 years of experience in epidemiology and infection prevention and control across acute care, long-term care, ambulatory care, and specialty clinics. She is currently the Director of Infection Prevention and Control and Consulting at ECRI. In addition, Dr. Kalp teaches epidemiology and research methods at Shippensburg University. Prior to these roles, Dr. Kalp served as an epidemiologist and program manager at the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) for the Bureau of Epidemiology’s Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship program. In that role, she worked on infection prevention and control improvement efforts and led the PA DOH Infection Control and Outbreak Response team.

She is board-certified in Infection Prevention and Control and Epidemiology (CIC) by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology since 2007. Additionally, she is a Fellow of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

Dr. Kalp has presented at local, state, and national conferences and has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and abstracts. She also served a three-year term on both the APIC Research Committee and APIC Professional Development Committee. She has held numerous positions in the East Central Pennsylvania APIC Chapter, including ECP APIC Chapter President, Secretary, and Board Member.