Ebola: A Bleach Dilution Gauge
A simple, frugal ruler helping to fight ebola
Preventing the spread of the Ebola virus within healthcare facilities requires the daily disinfection of patient bodies, work surfaces and personal protective equipment. It is a laborious task but vital work. Current WHO guidelines stipulate the creation of bleach dilutions (1:10 or 1:100) and the use a basic cup as an improvised measuring device. Our frugal innovation reduces a repetitive task in a very challenging work environment by enabling buckets to be filled directly from a tap or hose. Quite simply, the bucket is filled with water to the first indention on the gauge and then topped up with bleach to the second to achieve a perfect concentration ratio. A $1 USD product made using a flexible manufacturing system that enables the rapid production of 'bespoke' gauges to match NGO procurement contracts or any bucket design. This understated product is now being reviewed by the WHO for inclusion into their forthcoming 2015 Compendium of Medical Devices for Low Resource Settings.