Yakima Public Health

Yakima Health District’s Handwashing Education is a multi-part program, depending on the time of year. In the spring, our team visits Yakima County schools and teaches kids the importance of washing their hands. In the summer, we participate in festivals and community events. During the fall, we again visit schools. In the winter, we take our presentation into the classroom.

The focus of our program is our Handwashing trailer, or Handy, as it is affectionately known. Handy has three sinks and a black light tent which allows participants to place black light lotion on their hands, see their pretend “germs,” wash their hands, and then see if they removed all of the “germs.” The program’s goal is to reduce the rate of diahrreal disease in our community and decrease the transmission of other illnesses.

Between April and October the Handwashing program usually sees over 10,000 people per year.

To schedule the Handy trailer for a visit to your school or community event, call Tess Myers at 249.6510. We are generally available between April and October on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, although exceptions can be made. We can work evenings and weekends, depending on the event. In order for us to use the trailer, we must be working with at least 30 participants.

The trailer requires these things to operate:

• At least 30 feet to park the trailer
• A connection to a basic power plug
• A water connection to a potable water source (not irrigation water).
• A location to dump the waste water that goes directly into the sewer or septic if the group is over 150 students. If we are seeing less than 150 children, we have a self-holding tank to take care of the waste water.

We look forward to working with your schedule to determine when we can visit your school or event.