Frequently Asked Questions

The six priority courses for you to complete as an employee are:

1. Accessibility Training
2. Annual Emergency Codes Review – Code Red, Green, and Orange
3. Health and Safety Awareness Training
4. WHMIS
5. Annual Privacy and ConnectingOntario Review for KHSC Staff
6. French Language Services Act

If you have any questions regarding these courses please refer to the Guide to Mandatory Employee Training or contact @email.

The six priority courses for you to complete as an employee are:

1. Accessibility Training
2. Annual Emergency Codes Review – Code Red, Green, and Orange
3. Health and Safety Awareness Training
4. WHMIS
5. Annual Privacy and ConnectingOntario Review for KHSC Staff
6. French Language Services Act

If you have any questions regarding these courses please refer to the Guide to Mandatory Employee Training or contact @email.

The six priority courses for you to complete as an employee are:

1. Accessibility Training
2. Annual Emergency Codes Review – Code Red, Green, and Orange
3. Health and Safety Awareness Training
4. WHMIS
5. Annual Privacy and ConnectingOntario Review for KHSC Staff
6. French Language Services Act

If you have any questions regarding these courses please refer to the Guide to Mandatory Employee Training or contact @email.

The guidelines and restrictions to visitor presence at KHSC is ongoing and ever evolving in order to accommodate the needs of our patients and community while also preventing the spread of COVID-19. In order to learn more about the current visitor restrictions, please click here.

*Please note that you will need Google Authenticator in order to view this information if you are not currently at one of KHSC’s sites.

The guidelines and restrictions to visitor presence at KHSC is ongoing and ever evolving in order to accommodate the needs of our patients and community while also preventing the spread of COVID-19. In order to learn more about the current visitor restrictions, please click here.

*Please note that you will need Google Authenticator in order to view this information if you are not currently at one of KHSC’s sites.

The guidelines and restrictions to visitor presence at KHSC is ongoing and ever evolving in order to accommodate the needs of our patients and community while also preventing the spread of COVID-19. In order to learn more about the current visitor restrictions, please click here.

*Please note that you will need Google Authenticator in order to view this information if you are not currently at one of KHSC’s sites.

Most infections are treated with antibiotics – the type of medication will depend on the germ causing the infection. An infected skin wound may be reopened and cleaned. If an infection occurs where an implant is placed, the implant may be removed. If the infection is deep within the body, another operation may be needed to treat it.

Ask lots of questions. Learn what steps the hospital is taking to reduce the danger of infection.

• If your doctor instructs, shower or bathe with antiseptic soap the night before and day of your surgery. You may be asked to use a special antibiotic cleanser that you don’t rinse off.
• If you smoke, stop or at least cut down. Ask your doctor about ways to quit.
• Only take antibiotics when told by a health care provider. Using antibiotics when they’re not needed can create germs that are harder to kill. If prescribed, finish all your antibiotics, even if you feel better.
• After your surgery, eat healthy foods.
• When you return home, care for your incision as instructed by your health care provider.

Health care providers should be taking the following precautions to prevent SSIs:

• Practicing proper hand-hygiene techniques. Before the operation, the surgeon and all operating room staff scrub their hands and arms with an antiseptic soap.
• Cleaning the site where your incision is made with an antiseptic solution.
• Wearing medical uniforms (scrub suits), long-sleeved surgical gowns, masks, caps, shoe covers and sterile gloves.
• Covering the patient with a sterile drape with a hole where the incision is made.
• Closely watching the patient’s blood sugar levels after surgery to make sure it stays within a normal range. High blood sugar can delay the wound from healing.
• Warming IV fluids, increasing the temperature in the operating room and providing warm-air blankets (if necessary) to ensure a normal body temperature. A lower-than-normal body temperature during or after surgery prevents oxygen from reaching the wound, making it harder for your body to fight infection.
• Clipping, not shaving any hair that has to be removed. This prevents tiny nicks and cuts through which germs can enter.
• Covering your closed wound (closed with stitches) with sterile dressing for one or two days. If your wound is open, packing it with sterile gauze and cover it with sterile dressing.

The risk of acquiring a surgical site infection is higher if you:

• Are an older adult
• Have a weakened immune system or other serious health problem such as diabetes
• Smoke
• Are malnourished
• Are very overweight
• Have a wound that is left open instead of closed with sutures

• Increased soreness, pain, or tenderness at the surgical site.
• A red streak, increased redness, or swelling near the incision.
• Greenish-yellow or foul-smelling discharge from the incision.
• Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius) or higher

Symptoms can appear at any time from hours to days after surgery. Implants such as an artificial knee or hip can become infected up to 3 months or more after the operation.

Surgical site infections occur when harmful germs enter your body through the surgical site (any cut the surgeon makes in the skin to perform the operation). Infections can happen because germs are everywhere – on your skin, and on things you touch. Most infections are caused by germs found on and in your body.

The risk of acquiring a surgical site infection is higher if you:

• Are an older adult
• Have a weakened immune system or other serious health problem such as diabetes
• Smoke
• Are malnourished
• Are very overweight
• Have a wound that is left open instead of closed with sutures

The risk of acquiring a surgical site infection is higher if you:

• Are an older adult
• Have a weakened immune system or other serious health problem such as diabetes
• Smoke
• Are malnourished
• Are very overweight
• Have a wound that is left open instead of closed with sutures

The risk of acquiring a surgical site infection is higher if you:

• Are an older adult
• Have a weakened immune system or other serious health problem such as diabetes
• Smoke
• Are malnourished
• Are very overweight
• Have a wound that is left open instead of closed with sutures

• Being on a ventilator for more than five days
• Recent hospitalization (last 90 days)
• Residence in a nursing home
• Prior antibiotic use (last 90 days)
• Dialysis treatment in a clinic

• Being on a ventilator for more than five days
• Recent hospitalization (last 90 days)
• Residence in a nursing home
• Prior antibiotic use (last 90 days)
• Dialysis treatment in a clinic

• Being on a ventilator for more than five days
• Recent hospitalization (last 90 days)
• Residence in a nursing home
• Prior antibiotic use (last 90 days)
• Dialysis treatment in a clinic

The most important symptoms include:

• Fever
• Low body temperature
• New purulent sputum (foul smelling infectious mucous or phlegm coughed up from the lungs or airway)
• Hypoxia (decreased amounts of oxygen in the blood)

The most important symptoms include:

• Fever
• Low body temperature
• New purulent sputum (foul smelling infectious mucous or phlegm coughed up from the lungs or airway)
• Hypoxia (decreased amounts of oxygen in the blood)

The most important symptoms include:

• Fever
• Low body temperature
• New purulent sputum (foul smelling infectious mucous or phlegm coughed up from the lungs or airway)
• Hypoxia (decreased amounts of oxygen in the blood)

Most infections are treated with antibiotics – the type of medication will depend on the germ causing the infection. An infected skin wound may be reopened and cleaned. If an infection occurs where an implant is placed, the implant may be removed. If the infection is deep within the body, another operation may be needed to treat it.

Ask lots of questions. Learn what steps the hospital is taking to reduce the danger of infection.

• If your doctor instructs, shower or bathe with antiseptic soap the night before and day of your surgery. You may be asked to use a special antibiotic cleanser that you don’t rinse off.
• If you smoke, stop or at least cut down. Ask your doctor about ways to quit.
• Only take antibiotics when told by a health care provider. Using antibiotics when they’re not needed can create germs that are harder to kill. If prescribed, finish all your antibiotics, even if you feel better.
• After your surgery, eat healthy foods.
• When you return home, care for your incision as instructed by your health care provider.

Health care providers should be taking the following precautions to prevent SSIs:

• Practicing proper hand-hygiene techniques. Before the operation, the surgeon and all operating room staff scrub their hands and arms with an antiseptic soap.
• Cleaning the site where your incision is made with an antiseptic solution.
• Wearing medical uniforms (scrub suits), long-sleeved surgical gowns, masks, caps, shoe covers and sterile gloves.
• Covering the patient with a sterile drape with a hole where the incision is made.
• Closely watching the patient’s blood sugar levels after surgery to make sure it stays within a normal range. High blood sugar can delay the wound from healing.
• Warming IV fluids, increasing the temperature in the operating room and providing warm-air blankets (if necessary) to ensure a normal body temperature. A lower-than-normal body temperature during or after surgery prevents oxygen from reaching the wound, making it harder for your body to fight infection.
• Clipping, not shaving any hair that has to be removed. This prevents tiny nicks and cuts through which germs can enter.
• Covering your closed wound (closed with stitches) with sterile dressing for one or two days. If your wound is open, packing it with sterile gauze and cover it with sterile dressing.

The risk of acquiring a surgical site infection is higher if you:

• Are an older adult
• Have a weakened immune system or other serious health problem such as diabetes
• Smoke
• Are malnourished
• Are very overweight
• Have a wound that is left open instead of closed with sutures

• Increased soreness, pain, or tenderness at the surgical site.
• A red streak, increased redness, or swelling near the incision.
• Greenish-yellow or foul-smelling discharge from the incision.
• Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius) or higher

Symptoms can appear at any time from hours to days after surgery. Implants such as an artificial knee or hip can become infected up to 3 months or more after the operation.

Surgical site infections occur when harmful germs enter your body through the surgical site (any cut the surgeon makes in the skin to perform the operation). Infections can happen because germs are everywhere – on your skin, and on things you touch. Most infections are caused by germs found on and in your body.

• Increased soreness, pain, or tenderness at the surgical site.
• A red streak, increased redness, or swelling near the incision.
• Greenish-yellow or foul-smelling discharge from the incision.
• Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius) or higher

Symptoms can appear at any time from hours to days after surgery. Implants such as an artificial knee or hip can become infected up to 3 months or more after the operation.

• Increased soreness, pain, or tenderness at the surgical site.
• A red streak, increased redness, or swelling near the incision.
• Greenish-yellow or foul-smelling discharge from the incision.
• Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius) or higher

Symptoms can appear at any time from hours to days after surgery. Implants such as an artificial knee or hip can become infected up to 3 months or more after the operation.

• Increased soreness, pain, or tenderness at the surgical site.
• A red streak, increased redness, or swelling near the incision.
• Greenish-yellow or foul-smelling discharge from the incision.
• Fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius) or higher

Symptoms can appear at any time from hours to days after surgery. Implants such as an artificial knee or hip can become infected up to 3 months or more after the operation.