Vitality Health Collective Protocols During Pandemic
Symptoms, Exposure, and Cancellations
• If you or a family member are experiencing a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, or any other flu-like symptoms, please cancel your appointment, receive a COVID-19 test, and reschedule your appointment after you are symptom free. Our practitioners will follow the same guidelines.
• If you have had known exposure to the coronavirus, please observe the required 14-day quarantine period before scheduling an appointment.
• If you develop illness symptoms within four days after a session, please inform your practitioner of this potential exposure, and we will do the same.
• There will be no charge for last-minute cancellations. When possible, please notify us in advance.
Appointment Timing and Arrival
• To minimize contact in shared space, we are closing our front door and waiting room for now, and we will welcome clients in through our back door individually. (We will open the front door for any clients needing to use our ramp.)
• Please text your practitioner when you arrive. Wait in your car until he or she opens our back door to let you in.
• We are scheduling a minimum of 15 minutes between appointments to give us adequate time for our sanitation measures and so clients can easily exit before our next client arrives
• Please don’t bring extra family members to your appointment. For children’s appointments, one caregiver may accompany their child.
Entering the Building
• We will check your temperature when you arrive, and we may also choose to check your blood oxygen levels with our oximeter.
• Please remove your shoes and leave them by the back door.
• Wash your hands at one of our sinks or use our hand sanitizer. (In general, please wash your hands before and after every interaction.) Wash hands fully, including the backs of your hands.
• Please use the bathroom before you come to your appointment so you can limit the number of times you need to use our shared bathrooms.
• Please observe social distancing if you see anyone other than your practitioner in the building.
Masks
• We are currently requiring that practitioners and clients wear masks in our building.
• Practitioners will be wearing masks that provide snug full-face coverage, are three-layered, and are made out of quilter’s cotton and flannel. Research has shown this fabric combination to be as effective as surgical masks.
• We have extra masks you may use if you don’t have a good one of your own.
• Only touch the ties of the mask to put it on, adjust it, and take it off. Don’t touch the mask itself.
• If you have used one of our masks, before you exit, sanitize your hands. Then remove your mask, fold it in half with the inner surfaces facing each other, hand it to your practitioner, and sanitize your hands once more. (CDC recommendations.)
Sessions
• Please place your clothing on the client chair as these surfaces can easily be washed afterwards.
• We may chat less in sessions as masks reduce the ease of communication. Enjoy this opportunity to sink into the sensory experience of your bodywork!
• For credit card payment, we will send online invoices to avoid contacting your cards. Cash and check payment may be left in envelopes we’ll have available in each room.
Extra Recommendations
• Support your immune system with practices that are good for all aspects of your health:
o Sleep well, exercise regularly, eat cleanly, and drink adequate fluids.
o Consider taking immune-boosting supplements and herbs. Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as increasing the severity of the coronavirus. Probiotics and fermented foods improve the immunity of your gut. Adaptogens are herbs that strengthen and balance the immune system, as well as stress responses and digestion.
• Check your temperature daily so you know your normal temperature.
o (For women in your reproductive years, your temperature is usually lower during the first half of your cycle, elevates at ovulation, and then is slightly higher during the second half of your cycle. None of these variations should resemble a fever, but are reflective of monthly cycles in your temperature.)
• Pay attention to everyone you interact with so you can easily recall your contacts if you need to do contact tracing.
• Remember to regularly connect with love, joy, compassion, and gratitude in your life.
Regular Cleaning:
Disinfecting tools in each room:
• Disinfectant spray bottles.
• Soap and water spray bottles. Scrubbing with soap and water is very effective at destroying the coronavirus, and as our disinfectant can ruin wood and plastic surfaces, soap and water is the best choice for those surfaces.
• Perforated paper towel rolls to use with the sprays to wipe down surfaces. (Extra in hall closet and basement.)
• Alcohol wipes for wiping down devices.
• Hand sanitizer.
• Air purifiers with HEPA and activated carbon filters to run constantly in each room. (These are top rated by Consumer Reports and perfect for a regular-sized treatment room - https://www.blueair.com/us/air-purifiers/blue/pure-411-plus/2195.html?cgid=blue)
• Ozone machine to be run at night in hallway.
Items to clean between clients:
• Items to clean with disinfectant
o Doorhandles,
o Sink faucets,
o Toilet seats and handles,
o Face cradles in their new covers, which can sustain harsher disinfectants, (https://www.massagetables.com/aero-cel_face_rest_cover) and
o Pillows, if used during session, in their new vinyl covers.
• Items to clean with soap and water (I'm sure using the disinfectant spray occasionally on these surfaces won't damage them, but regular usage would) -
o Treatment room chairs,
o Side tables,
o Wood countertops,
o Treatment table tops,
o Bolster, if used,
o The stools, including the underside, and
o Area of doors around door knobs.
• Items to wipe off with alcohol wipes
o Thermometer,
o Personal phones, and
o Office computer and phone (if used).
• Open windows during the cleaning period between clients.
End of shift:
• Each room will have a cleaning log for that room, so we can mark the date and time that we last cleaned it before passing it on to the next practitioner.
• Empty your room’s trash into the outside trashcan.
• Spray the inside of the trashcan with our disinfectant spray.
Laundry:
• Put sheets directly into the washing machine after each session.
• Change water temperature to hot when you start the laundry.
• Fold dirty sheets in on themselves to contain possible germs and don’t fling them open when placing them in the washing machine.
• Fold clean sheets and store in metal shelves so their sterility is maintained.
• If your client needs extra warmth, use the heater and towels instead of blankets and table warmers.
• Towels will replace blankets. This will increase our laundry loads, so please help turn over laundry at the beginning and end of every shift and possibly in between appointments too.
• Place clean masks for practitioners in box for masks in metal shelves.
• Place clean masks for clients in disposable lunch sacks that will be put on back door table.
Our Actions:
• Signs -
o office requirements on outer doors and inside by entrance,
o bathrooms re: hand washing and spraying bathroom after you use,
o info about wearing a mask properly.
• Wash hands and forearms up to your elbows.
• Use your elbow or a paper towel to open doors and turn on lights.
• Be observant of what you’re touching so that you can then disinfect the surfaces - the underside of the stools, the door instead of the door handle. These little things make a difference so just be aware of where you’re touching. Better yet, make yourself not touch so many surfaces!
• Send invoices via email to all clients paying with credit card. (Susie recommends QuickBooks for transactions as you can receive bank transfers with no fees, and you can provide receipts easily.)
• For product sales, text Holly what someone wants to purchase and what their name is, and she will email them an invoice for the product that they can pay online.
• For receiving cash or checks, have client place them in plastic bag or envelope. Pick up envelope at end of day, possibly with gloved hands.
• Consider wearing long hair up. (I’ve already found it difficult to manage with a mask on too.)
• Additional options:
o Change shirts between clients
o Use gloves when working, especially during facial work
o Prone positioning - create hammock with a pillow case under the face cradle “that could semi-effectively capture aerosols expelled by a client who is unable to comfortably wear a face covering during face-down positioning.” Possibly use side-lying treatment positions instead.
o Ask clients to shower and dress in clean clothes before their appointment.
Response to Illness:
If we (the practitioners) get a fever or cough:
• Contact clients from last 4 days and inform them.
• Receive test.
• Inform clients of test results.
• If regular illness, come back when free of fever for 24 hours.
• If diagnosed:
o quarantine for minimum of ?? weeks and for ?how long? after disappearance of symptoms, and
o sterilize building (ozone is already doing it, but deep clean too – mopping floor and walls).
If a family member gets a fever or cough:
• Cancel appointments until receive confirmation that it’s not coronavirus.
• If diagnosed:
o contact all clients whom you had contact with for 4 days before your quarantine started, and
o quarantine for minimum of ?? weeks and for ?how long? after disappearance of symptoms, and
o sterilize building (ozone is already doing it, but deep clean too – mopping floor and walls).
If a client who’s been in the office in the last 4 days gets diagnosed:
• Practitioner quarantines and does contact tracing to inform other practitioners and clients.
• Treatment room, bathroom, and hallway get deep disinfecting.
Symptoms, Exposure, and Cancellations
• If you or a family member are experiencing a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, or any other flu-like symptoms, please cancel your appointment, receive a COVID-19 test, and reschedule your appointment after you are symptom free. Our practitioners will follow the same guidelines.
• If you have had known exposure to the coronavirus, please observe the required 14-day quarantine period before scheduling an appointment.
• If you develop illness symptoms within four days after a session, please inform your practitioner of this potential exposure, and we will do the same.
• There will be no charge for last-minute cancellations. When possible, please notify us in advance.
Appointment Timing and Arrival
• To minimize contact in shared space, we are closing our front door and waiting room for now, and we will welcome clients in through our back door individually. (We will open the front door for any clients needing to use our ramp.)
• Please text your practitioner when you arrive. Wait in your car until he or she opens our back door to let you in.
• We are scheduling a minimum of 15 minutes between appointments to give us adequate time for our sanitation measures and so clients can easily exit before our next client arrives
• Please don’t bring extra family members to your appointment. For children’s appointments, one caregiver may accompany their child.
Entering the Building
• We will check your temperature when you arrive, and we may also choose to check your blood oxygen levels with our oximeter.
• Please remove your shoes and leave them by the back door.
• Wash your hands at one of our sinks or use our hand sanitizer. (In general, please wash your hands before and after every interaction.) Wash hands fully, including the backs of your hands.
• Please use the bathroom before you come to your appointment so you can limit the number of times you need to use our shared bathrooms.
• Please observe social distancing if you see anyone other than your practitioner in the building.
Masks
• We are currently requiring that practitioners and clients wear masks in our building.
• Practitioners will be wearing masks that provide snug full-face coverage, are three-layered, and are made out of quilter’s cotton and flannel. Research has shown this fabric combination to be as effective as surgical masks.
• We have extra masks you may use if you don’t have a good one of your own.
• Only touch the ties of the mask to put it on, adjust it, and take it off. Don’t touch the mask itself.
• If you have used one of our masks, before you exit, sanitize your hands. Then remove your mask, fold it in half with the inner surfaces facing each other, hand it to your practitioner, and sanitize your hands once more. (CDC recommendations.)
Sessions
• Please place your clothing on the client chair as these surfaces can easily be washed afterwards.
• We may chat less in sessions as masks reduce the ease of communication. Enjoy this opportunity to sink into the sensory experience of your bodywork!
• For credit card payment, we will send online invoices to avoid contacting your cards. Cash and check payment may be left in envelopes we’ll have available in each room.
Extra Recommendations
• Support your immune system with practices that are good for all aspects of your health:
o Sleep well, exercise regularly, eat cleanly, and drink adequate fluids.
o Consider taking immune-boosting supplements and herbs. Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as increasing the severity of the coronavirus. Probiotics and fermented foods improve the immunity of your gut. Adaptogens are herbs that strengthen and balance the immune system, as well as stress responses and digestion.
• Check your temperature daily so you know your normal temperature.
o (For women in your reproductive years, your temperature is usually lower during the first half of your cycle, elevates at ovulation, and then is slightly higher during the second half of your cycle. None of these variations should resemble a fever, but are reflective of monthly cycles in your temperature.)
• Pay attention to everyone you interact with so you can easily recall your contacts if you need to do contact tracing.
• Remember to regularly connect with love, joy, compassion, and gratitude in your life.
Regular Cleaning:
Disinfecting tools in each room:
• Disinfectant spray bottles.
• Soap and water spray bottles. Scrubbing with soap and water is very effective at destroying the coronavirus, and as our disinfectant can ruin wood and plastic surfaces, soap and water is the best choice for those surfaces.
• Perforated paper towel rolls to use with the sprays to wipe down surfaces. (Extra in hall closet and basement.)
• Alcohol wipes for wiping down devices.
• Hand sanitizer.
• Air purifiers with HEPA and activated carbon filters to run constantly in each room. (These are top rated by Consumer Reports and perfect for a regular-sized treatment room - https://www.blueair.com/us/air-purifiers/blue/pure-411-plus/2195.html?cgid=blue)
• Ozone machine to be run at night in hallway.
Items to clean between clients:
• Items to clean with disinfectant
o Doorhandles,
o Sink faucets,
o Toilet seats and handles,
o Face cradles in their new covers, which can sustain harsher disinfectants, (https://www.massagetables.com/aero-cel_face_rest_cover) and
o Pillows, if used during session, in their new vinyl covers.
• Items to clean with soap and water (I'm sure using the disinfectant spray occasionally on these surfaces won't damage them, but regular usage would) -
o Treatment room chairs,
o Side tables,
o Wood countertops,
o Treatment table tops,
o Bolster, if used,
o The stools, including the underside, and
o Area of doors around door knobs.
• Items to wipe off with alcohol wipes
o Thermometer,
o Personal phones, and
o Office computer and phone (if used).
• Open windows during the cleaning period between clients.
End of shift:
• Each room will have a cleaning log for that room, so we can mark the date and time that we last cleaned it before passing it on to the next practitioner.
• Empty your room’s trash into the outside trashcan.
• Spray the inside of the trashcan with our disinfectant spray.
Laundry:
• Put sheets directly into the washing machine after each session.
• Change water temperature to hot when you start the laundry.
• Fold dirty sheets in on themselves to contain possible germs and don’t fling them open when placing them in the washing machine.
• Fold clean sheets and store in metal shelves so their sterility is maintained.
• If your client needs extra warmth, use the heater and towels instead of blankets and table warmers.
• Towels will replace blankets. This will increase our laundry loads, so please help turn over laundry at the beginning and end of every shift and possibly in between appointments too.
• Place clean masks for practitioners in box for masks in metal shelves.
• Place clean masks for clients in disposable lunch sacks that will be put on back door table.
Our Actions:
• Signs -
o office requirements on outer doors and inside by entrance,
o bathrooms re: hand washing and spraying bathroom after you use,
o info about wearing a mask properly.
• Wash hands and forearms up to your elbows.
• Use your elbow or a paper towel to open doors and turn on lights.
• Be observant of what you’re touching so that you can then disinfect the surfaces - the underside of the stools, the door instead of the door handle. These little things make a difference so just be aware of where you’re touching. Better yet, make yourself not touch so many surfaces!
• Send invoices via email to all clients paying with credit card. (Susie recommends QuickBooks for transactions as you can receive bank transfers with no fees, and you can provide receipts easily.)
• For product sales, text Holly what someone wants to purchase and what their name is, and she will email them an invoice for the product that they can pay online.
• For receiving cash or checks, have client place them in plastic bag or envelope. Pick up envelope at end of day, possibly with gloved hands.
• Consider wearing long hair up. (I’ve already found it difficult to manage with a mask on too.)
• Additional options:
o Change shirts between clients
o Use gloves when working, especially during facial work
o Prone positioning - create hammock with a pillow case under the face cradle “that could semi-effectively capture aerosols expelled by a client who is unable to comfortably wear a face covering during face-down positioning.” Possibly use side-lying treatment positions instead.
o Ask clients to shower and dress in clean clothes before their appointment.
Response to Illness:
If we (the practitioners) get a fever or cough:
• Contact clients from last 4 days and inform them.
• Receive test.
• Inform clients of test results.
• If regular illness, come back when free of fever for 24 hours.
• If diagnosed:
o quarantine for minimum of ?? weeks and for ?how long? after disappearance of symptoms, and
o sterilize building (ozone is already doing it, but deep clean too – mopping floor and walls).
If a family member gets a fever or cough:
• Cancel appointments until receive confirmation that it’s not coronavirus.
• If diagnosed:
o contact all clients whom you had contact with for 4 days before your quarantine started, and
o quarantine for minimum of ?? weeks and for ?how long? after disappearance of symptoms, and
o sterilize building (ozone is already doing it, but deep clean too – mopping floor and walls).
If a client who’s been in the office in the last 4 days gets diagnosed:
• Practitioner quarantines and does contact tracing to inform other practitioners and clients.
• Treatment room, bathroom, and hallway get deep disinfecting.