1. Hand Hygiene

Hygiene and Health Care Information for Times of Disaster 1. Hand Hygiene

Always keep your hands clean during times of disaster.

At times of disaster, your hands can get dirty more easily than usual, especially if you are in an evacuation shelter or another place where many people are coming and going. Keeping your hands clean at times of disaster is very important.

Places where dirt often remains after washing

— When to clean your hands —

Be sure to clean your hands carefully, especially after touching anything dirty or that has been touched by many other people.
- Before
  and after
  eating
- After
  using the
  restroom
- After
  changing
  a diaper
- After sneezing or coughing
- After
  blowing
  your nose
- After
  manual
  labor
- After
  touching
  animals
- After
  handling
  garbage

Way to Clean your hands when you cannot wash with water

Quickly disinfect your hands using liquid hand sanitizer.
Don’t just rub your palms together—make sure to thoroughly rub the hand sanitizer into all the areas that are easy to miss.

1. Squirt hand sanitizer into the palm of one hand
2. Rub your palms together
3. Rub the fingertips of each hand against the palm of the other
4. Rub the back of each hand with the palm of the other
5. Interlace the fingers of your hands and rub between the fingers
6. Grasp each thumb with the other hand and rub in a twisting motion
7. Grasp each wrist with the other hand and rub in a twisting motion

8. Continue rubbing your hands together until the hand sanitizer dries

Children should use hand sanitizers only under the direction and supervision of an adult

Also, when cleaning with a wet wipe or moistened tissue, make sure to thoroughly wipe areas that are easy miss.

1. Thoroughly wipe the palm.
2. Reverse the sheet and wipe the back of the hand.
3. Wipe from the pad of the thumb to the tip.
4. Wipe the other four fingers in the same manner.

Hand cleaning items to keep ready

Be ready for emergencies by keeping hand cleaning items in your emergency bag alongside other emergency supplies.

If you don’t have hand wipes, you can use a tissue instead by folding it in eighths and moistening it with about a plastic drink bottle cap’s worth of water.