COVID-19: What Is PPE - Personal Protective Equipment and how to use it?

The coronavirus pandemic which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan has now spiralled out to infect 14,68, 776 people. It has claimed the lives 83, 442, however, 3, 12,436 have recovered from the infection. Health Care professions, Police, and Food delivery personnel are working day and night to provide services to people. Meanwhile, there are recommendations by global health organisations to use Personal Protective Equipment’s or PPE to protect oneself from contracting coronavirus infection.

What is PPE?

Personal Protective Equipment is specialized clothing or equipment worn by an employee for protection against infectious materials. World Health Organisation on its website described it as “consisting of garments placed to protect the health care workers or any other persons from getting infected”. It added that the PPE usually consist of "standard precautions, gloves, masks, gowns and respirators, face shields".

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The US' Centre for disease control and prevention advised people to wear PPE before contacting any COVID-19 patient, generally before entering the room. It added that PPE should be removed and discarded carefully, either at the doorway or immediately outside the patient's room and the visitor should immediately perform health hygiene.

CDC on its website wrote, “First, don it before you have any contact with the patient, generally before entering the room. Once you have PPE on, use it carefully to prevent spreading contamination. When you have completed your tasks, remove the PPE carefully and discard it in the receptacles provided. Then immediately perform hand hygiene before going on to the next.”

Talking about the sequence of wearing PPE, the organisation also wrote that the gown should be donned first followed by the mask or respirator which should be checked properly. Goggles and face shield should be donned next and the gloves should be worn at the last.

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Image: AP