Horological Meandering

AndrewD
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Watches, bugs and the St. Gallen PPro ABR

Hi All

There is an aspect to our watches that we don’t often think about and that is that the moist, warm environment under a watchband provides the perfect conditions for bacteria and fungi to grow. This may not be a pleasant thought, but for the majority of us it poses little risk. However, for those who have underlying medical problems, particularly with their immune system or a breakdown in skin integrity, and especially for those who work in the health care setting there is a real risk. In the hospital environment you don’t want additional reservoirs of organisms that could potentially transmit to others and cause infection. 

Over the last few years there has been increasing recognition of the infection transmission risks from inanimate objects like rings, name badges, lanyards, ties etc. Bacteria can be isolated in large numbers from these items, including watches. Hospital staff would rarely even think about disinfecting their watch or, if they did, would not be able to adequately accomplish this because of the presence of crevices where organisms could shelter or damage to the watch and band from the disinfectants.

The St. Gallen Rescue Watch, on which the PProABR is based, has been previously reviewed by Mitch Katz and Anthony Tsai in the clinical environment and I would endorse the benefits of the watch from an infection transmission perspective. While not all of you will be wearing the PProABR in the clinical environment, think how much we like to have ‘toys’ around us that are “NASA approved”, “Military Specification” etc. Now you can wear a watch that is “Hospital Grade” as well!

I can’t wait to get mine and try it out. I don’t know how many of the 178 watches are still available, but why don’t you show your support for the PuristS and get one yourself!

Andrew