…

[Rachel Phillips]

I understand the concern of deteriorating the HEPA filter. To me this all comes down to training the person who is going to clean the hood. In one of my previous hospitals the technician cleaning the hood used a spray bottle of alcohol to spray the metal grate. They didn’t realize that they were also spraying the the HEPA filter and they caused rapid deterioration of the HEPA filter and it needed to be replaced.

However, if the procedure is to wet a non-shedding cloth with water/sterile alcohol/germicidal detergent and then to wipe the grate there should be less likelihood of damage to the HEPA filter.

The key is to properly train the staff, and help explain why certain parts of the procedure are important.