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CMS issues interim rule allowing alcohol-based handrubs in healthcare facilities

Infection Control Monitor, March 25, 2005

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued yesterday an interim final rule that will allow nursing homes, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and other healthcare facilities to install dispensers of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in exit corridors that meet certain conditions.

CMS previously did not allow such dispensers in those locations because of concerns that the alcohol could serve as an accelerant in the event of a fire.

In recommending the change, CMS weighed the benefits of using alcohol-based hand rubs to prevent infections in healthcare facilities over the likelihood of a fire if certain conditions were met. Those conditions include locating the dispensers away from heat or an ignition source, keeping them 4 ft apart from each other, and that facilities place them in corridors at least 6 ft wide.

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