By: Libby Sanchez

This pandemic has put emphasis on many things, but one of the most important would have to be hand washing. Now more than ever it’s crucial to get such a simple thing right. Our HOSA program here at Pleasanton High School has been informing many students about the process of handwashing and how to do it correctly. Kelly Mertz (senior) and Trinity Garcia (junior) visited the Journalism class and gave a very well-thought-out presentation. They provided a visual example of how to properly wash your hands to diminish the spread of germs. A student was asked to cover their hands in glo germ, a visual tool for handwash training. The student was then sent to the bathroom to wash their own hands based on how they already knew how to. When the student returned, the glo germ for the most part had been washed away. Though, there were still parts of the hand carrying large amounts of germs. Most students wash their hands the basic way they were taught: scrub the palms, between the fingers, scrub the back of the hand, and rinse. It’s become such a habit that people just go through the motions and that’s what keeps the spread of germs progressing. In this presentation, we were provided with the correct process: wet your hands, apply soap,  lather, and scrub (palms, between fingers, under fingernails, back of the hand) for 20 seconds, rinse 10 seconds, grab a paper towel and turn off the tap, and dry your hands. Trinity emphasizes, “It’s very important that you don’t touch the sink at any point during the handwashing process. If you touch any surface of the sink after you put soap on, you’re recontaminating your hands.” In between washes, it’s also a great idea to sanitize often. Kelly Mertz states, “Hand sanitizer needs to have 60% alcohol in order to work effectively and disinfect your hands.” Overall our HOSA program is doing an amazing job of emphasizing the importance of handwashing during this pandemic and every day to follow. We wish them the best of luck in their competition coming up on February 11th!