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In any battle, it's important to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. For Ben Rideout, founder of Creative Med Solutions, finding the weaknesses of his opponent has become a strength for his company.

Rideout began Creative Med Solutions just over one year ago after spending nearly four decades in the industry -- first in the clinical sector and later in sales and marketing. It was during those years that he began to develop some ideas for products. "I saw a need for certain products that didn't then exist in medical facilities," Rideout recalled. "Some would address efficiency or safety, while others would lend themselves to infection control."

Rideout realized hospital staff was exposed not just to germs, but also to the cleaning supplies meant to kill those germs and sterilize equipment and areas. "In the realm of infection prevention, it's important to create a barrier between individuals and the potential source of infection," Rideout said.

Clothing can be a barrier, but only to a certain extent. When it comes to potentially health-threatening infection transmission, health care professionals need more. "The arm gators used in hospitals were permeable and not long enough. Obviously, the logical solution was the creation of longer arm gators that are impervious to fluid splashes and related hazards," he said.

With 100,000 deaths every year from nosocomial infections, proper cleaning and sterilization of hospital rooms and equipment is a top priority. Yet, improper application of cleaning solutions can cause problems nearly as bad as those they're preventing. Manufacturers of cleaning solutions typically direct users to leave a disinfectant on a surface for at least a half hour. But Rideout noticed disinfectants being sprayed on and immediately wiped off. This not only gave it little time to kill any organisms, it also gave it no time to seep into materials.

That's why Creative Med Solutions also began manufacturing materials to cover gurneys, hospital beds and exam tables that don't allow organisms to sink into the equipment. The company has also created some other creative medical solutions including a holster for preloaded syringes and scissors instead of the usual fanny pack and IV line organizer cable covers also coated with this impervious material to reduce the possibility of transmission of disease from cable to patient or cable to workers.

Even with Creative Med Solutions providing some new answers for old problems, Rideout offers one piece of advice to anyone heading to the hospital, "If at all possible and you're not facing a time-critical, life-or-death situation, be sure to ask to see the hospital's infection control policy. If it doesn't seem right, try to go elsewhere," he said. In that way, you may avoid having a health dilemma turn into a health disaster.