German Medical Students have learned: Clean Laundry is Vital!

In the University Hospital Düsseldorf laundry medical students started to help process the laundry. Since the pandemic started, the amount of laundry has increased by up to 30 percent, according to plant manager Ulrich Steinbach.  Before, up to ten tons of laundry ran through the halls in the clinic’s own operation. In these COVID-19 times, twelve tons are being produced  and that causes problems for the staff to handle.

Medical students were asked to step in at various hotline situations: at the city information desk, in pharmacies, in nursing homes and in the clinic’s laundry. Over 500 students have registered and twelve were placed in the laundry. Although Niklas Tillmanns had sore muscles after the first day – due to the positive mood in the plant and the good instructions from plant manager – he soon realized: “Yes, I want to work here!”

First of all, he is not afraid of catching contaminated laundry: “I think the laundry is probably the least infected place in the hospital”.The students don’t handle contaminated laundry, since trained experts take care of that. Another positive aspect from the crisis seems to be the increased appreciation of the industry. As aspiring doctor Tillmanns puts it: “Clean laundry is not a matter of course. “It’s a tough job.”