COVID-19: Using Personal Protective Equipment PPEs in Nigeria
The world was hit with a virus unexpectedly, spreading so fast and hitting deep into the economies of the nations of the world.
For the world to survive, some measures are advised to be taken in addition to other therapeutics to combat this ravishing virus. Part of these measures is the use of personal protective equipment (PPEs).
Based on the currently available evidence, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended PPEs for the care of COVID patients.
Keeping in mind, PPE is part of a larger infection prevention and control bundle of measures and should be implemented as part of a multi-modal strategy of management of COVID 19 patients.
Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, gloves, face shields, goggles, surgical masks, respirators, and other equipment designed to protect the wearer from injury or help prevent wearer exposure to infection.
PPE is commonly used in health care settings such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, and clinical labs as well as food production facilities and food service settings.
PPE acts as a barrier between infectious materials(such as viral and bacterial contaminants) and the skin, mouth, nose, or eyes (mucous membranes).
The barrier provided by the PPE has the potential to block the transmission of contaminants from blood, body fluids, or respiratory secretions when used properly.
PPE may also protect patients who are at high risk for contracting infections through a surgical procedure.
When used properly and with other infection control practices such as hand washing, using alcohol-based sanitizers, and covering coughs and sneezes, PPE minimizes the spread of infection from one person to another.
Effective use of PPE includes properly removing and disposing of contaminated PPE to prevent exposing both the wearer and other people to infection.
The following are examples of items that make up personal protective equipment (PPEs);
Helmet: An helmet covers the entire head with a rear that covers the base of the skull and a protective section over the front of the chin.
Gloves: It is a covering for the hand-worn for protection against dirt and typically having separate parts for each finger and the thumb.
Face shield: A face shield is an item of PPE, aims to protect the wearer’s entire face from hazards or potentially infectious materials.
Goggles: This is a form of eye-protective, that usually enclose or protects the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particles from striking the eyes.
Coveralls: these are protective cloth-like material worn to cover every part of the body. They can be disposable or non-disposable.
Surgical Mask: It is also known as a face mask, is intended to be worn by health professionals during health care procedures.
It is designed to prevent cross-infection between patients and health personnel, stopping or reducing bacteria shed in liquid droplets, aerosols from the wearer’s mouth and nose. It is disposable.
Respirator: It is a PPE designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous particles. The presence of filters makes it very useful and protective against coronavirus.
There are differences between a surgical mask and a respirator and the differences are:
What is PPE?
Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, gloves, face shields, goggles, surgical masks, respirators, and other equipment designed to protect the wearer from injury or help prevent wearer exposure to infection.
PPE is commonly used in health care settings such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, and clinical labs as well as food production facilities and food service settings.
PPE acts as a barrier between infectious materials(such as viral and bacterial contaminants) and the skin, mouth, nose, or eyes (mucous membranes).
The barrier provided by the PPE has the potential to block the transmission of contaminants from blood, body fluids, or respiratory secretions when used properly.
PPE may also protect patients who are at high risk for contracting infections through a surgical procedure.
When used properly and with other infection control practices such as hand washing, using alcohol-based sanitizers, and covering coughs and sneezes, PPE minimizes the spread of infection from one person to another.
Effective use of PPE includes properly removing and disposing of contaminated PPE to prevent exposing both the wearer and other people to infection.
The following are examples of items that make up personal protective equipment (PPEs);
Helmet: An helmet covers the entire head with a rear that covers the base of the skull and a protective section over the front of the chin.
Gloves: It is a covering for the hand-worn for protection against dirt and typically having separate parts for each finger and the thumb.
Face shield: A face shield is an item of PPE, aims to protect the wearer’s entire face from hazards or potentially infectious materials.
Goggles: This is a form of eye-protective, that usually enclose or protects the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particles from striking the eyes.
Coveralls: these are protective cloth-like material worn to cover every part of the body. They can be disposable or non-disposable.
Surgical Mask: It is also known as a face mask, is intended to be worn by health professionals during health care procedures.
It is designed to prevent cross-infection between patients and health personnel, stopping or reducing bacteria shed in liquid droplets, aerosols from the wearer’s mouth and nose. It is disposable.
Respirator: It is a PPE designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous particles. The presence of filters makes it very useful and protective against coronavirus.
A surgical mask or a respirator?
There are differences between a surgical mask and a respirator and the differences are:
- Surgical masks do not effectively filter small particles from the air while a respirator protects from exposure to airborne particles. In health care, it protects from exposure to biological aerosols including viruses and bacteria.
- A face mask is a loose-fitting mask that covers the nose and mouth area while a respirator is a tight-fitting mask that creates a facial seal.
- Face masks are designed to be used as one-way protection only i.e only capturing large particles or droplets existing from the wearer and preventing them from being spread to the environment.
- Respirators are designed to be used in a two-way protection i.e filtering the air entering and exiting the wearer at a level of efficiency designated by the respiration or filter.
