4 ms·
Sounds to me like a dirty ice machine was to blame and not the water.
by rc_mob 4y ago
Sounds to me like a dirty ice machine was to blame and not the water.
- crazygringo 4y agoAgreed. Ice machines aren't supposed to depend on chlorine in the water to keep them clean. Commercial ice machines need to be cleaned and sanitized every six months in normal settings, and you'd probably expect a hospital to do it even more frequently. The article says: > Although hospital records indicated that the machines had been maintained and cleaned per the manufacturer's instructions, the researchers noted visible bacterial biofilms on the inside components of the machines. But it seems like a hospital should have its own standards for cleaning and disinfecting, not relying on manufacturer cleaning instructions for a non-medical device being used for patients with highly elevated risk of infection.
- liotier 4y agoOne of the food safety rules of travelling in rougher places, where only boiled or bottled drinks are safe enough, is to never take ice in drinks. I suppose we can now generalize to wherever maintenance looks shoddy.
- mypalmike 4y ago> Commercial ice machines need to be cleaned and sanitized every six months in normal settings It makes me wonder how many (or few) hotels keep on top of this kind of maintenance.
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoI wonder if they made assumptions based on the water filter that also did UV disinfection. But, any source of food and water should be subject to frequent testing, it should have flagged up much sooner than this. This also applies outside of hospitals, the dodgy looking ice machines in e.g. hotels probably don't get tested at all.
- jtms 4y agoI worked in restaurants all through college, you absolutely must clean the ice machines frequently. Sounds like they assumed they were self cleaning or just were not cleaning them often or thoroughly enough.
- wittenbunk 4y agoThe ice machine would not have gotten dirty(bacteria growing) if the water had chloramine in it. The article says the service and maintenance were performed correctly according to manufacturers specs.