Hasta La Ideas

I used to drive an ambulance, and even though we wore latex gloves, after particularly gory calls we’d scrub our hands pretty good in the hospital sink. In order to completely disinfect your mitts you were supposed to wash for a predetermined amount of time: Believe it or not, the rule was to play “Yankee Doodle Dandy” in your head and you stopped lathering only when the tune ended. (Now every time I hear that song I picture blood, vomit and less pleasant bodily fluids.)

Dave Hakkens’ Break Soap concept made me think of this. Hakkens’ idea is that you only break off a small piece at a time, to avoid “contaminating” the rest of the soap. But I think this could also be applied in a healthcare setting where caregivers could be required to use precise dosages of soap, ending the washing only when the entire piece had dissolved.

Then again, no hospital I’ve ever been in had bar soap, as there’s a danger of contaminating the rest of the bar while initiating your wash. Oh well. Maybe a Pez-type dispenser is required, but Hakkens, I think you’re onto something here.

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