Articles: personal-protective-equipment.
-
JAMA internal medicine · Dec 2015
Multicenter StudyContamination of Health Care Personnel During Removal of Personal Protective Equipment.
Contamination of the skin and clothing of health care personnel during removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) contributes to dissemination of pathogens and places personnel at risk for infection. ⋯ Contamination of the skin and clothing of health care personnel occurs frequently during removal of contaminated gloves or gowns. Educational interventions that include practice with immediate visual feedback on skin and clothing contamination can significantly reduce the risk of contamination during removal of PPE.
-
Case Reports
The Use of Intraosseous Fluid Resuscitation in a Pediatric Patient with Ebola Virus Disease.
Vomiting, diarrhea, and severe dehydration are common manifestations of Ebola virus disease (EVD), leading to its high mortality. Mortality is especially high in patients older than 45 years, younger than 5 years, and in pregnant women and their fetuses. The majority of patients with EVD are not able to tolerate the quantities of oral hydration solutions necessary to rehydrate properly. Although some have speculated that IV and intraosseous lines are not practical in the austere, resource-constrained settings of an Ebola treatment unit during an epidemic, it is necessary to provide parenteral fluids and electrolyte replacements to significantly decrease mortality. Due to the inability to spend long periods of time working in hot environments wearing personal protective equipment, it is necessary to maximize the use of rapidly obtainable and safe parenteral access. ⋯ The authors present a case of a 9-month-old patient with EVD in Sierra Leone in whom an intraosseous line was lifesaving. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Emergency physicians respond to international crises, such as the most recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa. It is important for such responders, as well as their responding organizations, to know and understand that intraosseous access is an important and safe modality to use in patients with EVD and in the austere settings often found in disaster settings.
-
Clinical therapeutics · Nov 2015
ReviewPersonal Protective Equipment: Protecting Health Care Providers in an Ebola Outbreak.
The recent Ebola epidemic that devastated West Africa has infected and killed more health care providers than any other outbreak in the history of this virus. An improved understanding of pathogen transmission and the institution of strategies to protect health care providers against infection are needed in infectious disease outbreaks. This review connects what is known about Ebola virus transmission with personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to arrest nosocomial transmission. ⋯ Current recommendations about PPE and the donning and doffing processes are based on anecdotal experience. However, the use of non-human viruses can help provide evidence-based guidelines on both PPE and donning and doffing processes.