Gait belt

The gait belt has been customarily made out of cotton webbing, with a durable metal buckle on one end.

Cleanable vinyl gait belts were introduced due to the tendency of webbing to harbor supergerms.

[2] With the advent of supergerms, such as MRSA[3] and VRE,[4] trying to limit the ways germs are transmitted is a major concern for the healthcare industry.

Organizations like the Joint Commission,[5] OSHA and the CDC[6] are constantly updating their recommendations for cleaning inanimate objects like the gait belt.

On September 13, 2017, Douglas Manor nursing home in Windham, Connecticut, was fined $1,530 after a patient sustained several injuries when staff failed to use the gait belt when assisting with transfer.