Skip to main content

Germ City teaches proper hand hygiene during COVID-19 crisis

With schools closed for the rest of the academic year due to COVID-19, the Geisinger Pediatric Community Health Education team, decided to offer its hand hygiene program that usually visits schools throughout the state to Geisinger Kids Camps, onsite care for the children of essential Geisinger employees.

The team visited the camps at Geisinger locations in Danville, Pittston and Camp Hill last week and presented the Germ City presentation, which focuses on the importance of hand washing.

“Now more than ever we see why we provide the Germ City program and why it is the most popular and requested program,” said Kimberly Auman, project manager of Geisinger’s Pediatric Community Health Education. “The program shows kids the effectiveness of their handwashing and offers the proper steps and procedure.”

The team took its Germ City unit, provided with donations to Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger to the kids camps. The unit is a large, walk-through tunnel equipped with black lights. Kids apply a black-light-sensitive lotion to their hands, then enter the tunnel and observe pretend germs on their hands. Kids then wash their hands and re-enter the tunnel to see how many “germs” remain on their hands.

A short video is shown after the activity to discuss both good and bag germs, where they live, important times to wash our hands, and the proper steps of handwashing.

“Proper handwashing will always be our best defense against sickness. Teaching and instilling these healthy habits will impact their health throughout their lifetime,” Auman said.