Personal protective equipment (PPE)includes a number of protective options such as protective clothing, gloves, face shields, helmets, goggles, face masks, and respirators to protect the wearer from the spread of infection. PPE is essentially worn by health care staff while handling patients with viruses and diseases that spread through contact or are airborne. Considering the purpose they serve, PPE form an important part of medical supplies on which the health care industry relies, while handling patients with contagious diseases.
Hospitals, clinical labs, doctors’ offices are the settings where PPE is commonly used. It has to be worn properly in order to create a barrier between any sources of contamination and the wearer. The contamination can be bacterial or viral, and the transmission can happen through body fluids, blood, and respiratory secretions. The current on-going COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant rise in the demand for PPE. In fact, it has turned out to be one of the most valued of medical supplies.
PPE for surgical procedures
PPE also helps with cross-contamination in operation theaters. While operating on patients, everyone involved in the procedure must wear Personal Protective Equipment. Patients are at high risk of contracting infections during surgical procedures, therefore everyone on the surgical team must wear PPE. People visiting or interacting with a patient post-surgery or one who is immune compromised, must also wear PPE. These types of patients are highly vulnerable and can be exposed to different infectious bacteria, viruses and even dangerous substances when medical staff and visitors go in and out of their hospital room.
*However, just wearing PPE is not enough. Proper infection control procedures must be in place such as regular hand washing, using alcohol based sanitizers, and properly covering mouth while coughing or sneezing. These practices are essential to minimize the transmission of infection and create a healthy environment. Luckily, these practices have been proved useful to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
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