Sick people are vulnerable. Ironically, a hospital is a very dangerous place for them to be.

That’s why I emphasize preventive medicine. If you keep yourself healthy and stay out of the hospital, you’re much less likely to come down with a dangerous infection.

But sometimes a hospital stay just can’t be avoided. Each year, some 100,000 people die from infections they acquire in hospitals.

The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating hospital infections, shares these five tips that could save your life:

1. Clean hands. Make sure that hospital staff, caregivers, and even your family clean their hands in front of you before touching you or the surfaces in your room. Don’t be falsely assured by gloves. If caregivers have put on gloves without cleaning their hands first, the gloves may be contaminated.

2. Beware of stethoscopes. Before your doctor uses a stethoscope, ask that the diaphragm (the flat surface) be wiped with alcohol.

3. Take antibacterial showers. If you are going to the hospital for elective surgery, start showering or bathing with chlorhexidine soap three to five days beforehand. That will help remove dangerous bacteria you may be carrying on your skin. And don’t shave right before entering the hospital. Small nicks allow bacteria to enter.

4. Watch what you eat. Common hospital infections are often contracted from contaminated food on meal trays. Don’t put  hospital food on any surface except a clean plate on which it was delivered.

5. Get disinfectant wipes. Ask a friend to bring you a canister of disinfectant wipes, so you can clean the bedrails, tray table, the TV clicker, doorknobs, the call button, and any other frequently touched surfaces. Make sure the room is scrubbed down while you’re a patient, and — most importantly — before you return from surgery.