COVID-19: Your Team
Arkona Dental Clinic COVID-19 Safety Protocol and Guidelines
Protecting Our Team, Our Patients and Our Community
Our goal at Arkona Dental Clinic has always been to provide the best dental care in the safest possible environment for our dental team and patients. COVID-19 has challenged every industry, including dentistry. Our infection prevention standards have always been high, but COVID-19 has required the dental field to take a closer look at our daily protocols and revise them to maintain the high quality of infection prevention we have always employed.. We have reviewed and refined our infection prevention protocols in accordance with the Ministry of Health and both Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO). This document contains the safety measures, infection protocols and recommendations for our dental clinic.
ARKONA DENTAL TEAM REQUIREMENTS
- Training on hand hygiene protocol. Signage posted for reminders.
- Training on the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) if required for their position.
- If staff are not feeling well, they are encouraged to proactively stay home. Daily self-screening before each shift begins. If any potential COVID-related symptoms present during a shift, the staff member will immediately be sent home and asked to contact COVID assessment centre for screening.
- Social distancing by team members will occur throughout the day. If unable, a mask will be worn. Staff breaks and lunch must follow social distancing rules.
- Checklist of recommendations for the team to follow has been created to help staff arrive to work healthy and go home to their families with no worry.
Given the increase in safety protocols and infection control, two specific roles have been introduced to focus on these efforts:
- Sterilization Specialist: This team member will be responsible for cleaning, sterilizing, helping with disinfecting and wiping down the operatories and reception area on a regular basis.
- Infection Control Champion: This team member will be responsible for keeping track of inventory of PPE and infection control supplies. They will also be the initial contact person for all training and any questions regarding infection control policies and protocols.