Surviving and Controlling COVID-19 Depends on Effective ID (Visual) Communication

Today we live with the threat of Covid-19 transmission and the persistent need to ensure safety and contain transmission of infectious disease. The worldwide COVID-19 crisis has established new cultural standards of personal responsibility concerning social distancing and prudent awareness of transmission risks. Responsible people everywhere want to do their part to not just “get through” but “beat” infectious disease—and prevent its re-emergence.

New COVID-19-induced standards and protocols require that individuals sharing any common environment—especially those in which disease transmission risks are high—understand as many facts as possible concerning infectious disease risks and management. The more facts available/shared, the better able people are to govern themselves wisely and effectively to minimize transmission.

Safety Reminder: Always Wearing Your ID Badge Helps Others Understand Your Covid-19 Risk Profile

Hospitals, healthcare systems, and other essential businesses continue to serve during emergency-response situations like the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic—and any epidemic (a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time) impacting broad populations and causing a rapid increase in patients needing medical care—communities must be prepared to quickly and authoritatively transmit key information about patients, personnel, access, infection status, control measures, and special precautions.

Isolation labels, screening status labels and wristbands, specimen labels, and essential employee labels all help reduce transmission risk by keeping identified groups separated effectively and by keeping all staff members and others visually informed of the nature and scope of those separations.

Essential workers in healthcare environments should be prepared to feature unique COVID-19 badge accessories that visually identify a worker’s COVID-19-related safety status (e.g., screening). Identification badges let patients, visitors and coworkers know a person is an employee, and their name, title and role—and their risk profile. Healthcare institutions’ ID badge protocols typically require employees to wear issued badges when working in campus buildings. In healthcare environments, wearing ID badges visibly above the waist by all employees is essential to establishing their safety profile while on the job.

Many institutions now require that screening-station staff enforce ID badge requirements, and that they not permit entrance to employees who do not have their badge, or whose badges lack required supplemental labeling concerning infection disease risks and status. Since initiation of COVID-19 screening stations, many employees either don’t wear, or do not have on hand, their ID badge when entering the facility. With the cost of supplemental employee identification so low, no organization has an excuse to permit staff members to be on the job without prescribed badges and labels.

COVID-19 related IDs let staff and guests know that your organization is serious about health security. Also, having all employees, patients, and visitors wear ID badges that distinguish clearly a person’s COVID-19 status is a way to boost workplace safety and spot persons not conforming to COVID-19 policies and procedures.

In addition to a specific strategy for identifying suspected COVID-19 cases, there are general best practices that will improve both healthcare worker and inpatient COVID-19 screening. One of these best practices is screening, and another is ensuring that those screening outcomes/statuses are communicated to others in quick, readily understood ways. Supplementing standard ID protocols with additional screening status or essential employee IDs and labels enables all persons within an institutional or business setting to see at a glance that those they’re encountering are safe.

The right badge can quickly identify inpatients with suspected COVID-19, can foster safe interactive conduct, and guide infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies. And prevent or limit transmission COVID-19 in healthcare setting.

ID Badge for Essential Personnel

IDs that designate individuals as “essential” enables caregivers to demonstrate essential designation and bypass shelter-in-place and other restrictions imposed by governing authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Caregivers can access and present the badge to facilities and authorities to verify authorized entry into locations where clients are located during the pandemic. This feature enables caregivers to continue providing the care and services that clients need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure seamless care delivery and optimal client outcomes.

Essential ID Cards help institutions of all types identify staff who are necessary for certain aspects of operations during the COVID-19 National Emergency. These cards easily identify hospital workers, medical staff, warehouse employees, and other essential workers.

With the right ID badges during these times, key information about personnel can easily identify healthcare staff and essential workers and their screening status. It’s not enough today to merely identify an employee with name and title. Due to COVID-19, all workers must additionally be identified as having complied with screening protocols designed to ensure the safety of an institution’s visitors and patients.

There is no increased risked of transmission of COVID-19 by wearing an ID badge, but it’s always a good idea to clean your badge, especially if you’ve just been in contact with COVID-positive individuals.

Reinforce your ID policy with signs stating “All Employees/Visitors Must Wear ID Badges.”