This episode kicks off Season 2 of Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release! I am so excited about this episode. I think you will enjoy listening to it as much as Leslie Kollmann and I had recording it. I know you probably would not normally put “joy” and “infection control” in the same room, let alone the same sentence but when you find out how you can take simple steps to protect yourself and the animals you care for, you may actually stand up and cheer. 

Leslie Kollmann is a Certified Veterinary Technician from the Minnesota Department of Health’s Zoonotic Disease Unit. Prior to working at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), Leslie was Infection Control and Safety Technician at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. She has experience in all areas of veterinary related Infection Control and Occupational Health. Her wide-ranging experiences include working on a Veterinary Occupational Health and Infection Control Assessment Pilot Program as well as a pilot program for wildlife rehabilitators, sanctuaries, and zoos called the Wildlife Occupational Health and Infection Control Assessment-or fondly referred to as WOHICA.

Leslie has authored two book chapters on Infection Control and Zoonotic Diseases and has been a co-author on various other articles.

Leslie and I had a wonderful and joyful conversation about how we as rehabilitators can use simple thoughtful techniques to improve infection control practices for ourselves and the animals that come into our care. We did spend a bit of time talking about hand washing. You may think you know all there is to know about washing your hands, but I think you will find out there is more to learn.

There is a great activity you can do at home or with other rehabilitators to see just how well you wash your hands. There are lotion products that when seen under UV light, show you just how well - or not - you have washed your hands. One of the products is called Glo-Germ. There are videos of the Glow Germ exercise on the site Glo Germ: Handwashing training .  Sometimes just simply putting up reminders to wash your hands increases your infection control. The MDH has a lot of great posters on hand washing that you can print, laminate, and post. Here is a great hand hygiene printout.

We weren’t done yet. We talked about cleaning and disinfection, how to make a make a makeshift sink from Pinterest when you are in places without a handwashing sink.

We also talked about higher levels of protection, such as wearing gowns. But you need to know how to put on (don) and take them off (doff) properly. Here are some videos to help you practice if you need to wear gowns/N95 , and another on how to

Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.

To learn more about The Raptor Center, visit Homepage | The Raptor Center (umn.edu). For more on Partners for Wildlife, visit Partners for Wildlife Home | The Raptor Center (umn.edu).