Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
What is PPE?
Broadly defined, personal protective equipment or
PPE is specialized clothing or equipment worn to
protect someone against a hazard. It can range from
just a mask or a pair of gloves to a combination of
gear that might cover most or all of the body.
PPE in medical settings is used under certain
defined precautions, depending on the hazard that
the person is exposed to. VA infection control
professionals are the resources in each facility on
the use of PPE and the precautions that staff and
others can take.
Frequently Asked Questions: VA Posters on PPE
Why does poster PPE 2, step 4 show
the model removing goggles with gloved hands?
Step 3 states that hands should be
decontaminated after removing the original set of
gloves and gown, then place a new CLEAN set of
gloves on hands before removing face/head gear. The
clean gloves are intended to prevent hands from
becoming contaminated in the later stages of PPE
removal.
The posters depict disposable cover
gowns—my facility reuses isolation gowns. What
should I do?
Disposable gowns should be strongly
considered for these highly infectious diseases.
The posters show head covers being
used. Is this a requirement?
Answer 3: Your facility may or may not choose to
include head covers in its isolation policies for
these diseases. This will be left up to individual
facilities.
My facility uses a different kind of
respirator/gown/goggles than the ones depicted on
the posters and I’m not sure the removal
instructions will work for the
respirator/gown/goggles we use.
Answer 4: Again, these posters are not intended
to replace internal procedures for individual
facilities. It is important to use the donning and
doffing methods that work best for the specific type
of PPE your facility uses.
Can I use these posters for other
diseases such as influenza, TB or meningococcal
meningitis.
Answer 5: These posters are only intended to be
used for the diseases listed above, which require
the highest level of infection control precautions.
For other infectious diseases, the CDC’s Isolation
Guideline recommendations for Airborne, Contact or
Droplet Precautions should be followed.
Why were PPE Posters developed by VA,
when CDC has this information available?
Answer 6: The CDC version uses a different order
of removal of PPE. The VA Posters recommend leaving
all facial items until last ; following
decontamination of hands and applying clean gloves.
The clean gloves were added to give extra assurance
of protection of facial areas; especially in case of
inadequate (or failure to perform) hand
decontamination before removing eye protection and
respirator.
Since the use of Airborne Precautions
and Contact Precautions together for certain
situations (i.e. patient with BOTH Mycobacterium
tuberculosis and Clostridium difficile, at the same
time), is not a new practice in infection control,
why did the VA decide now to develop posters
demonstrating the PPE to be worn for combined
Airborne Infection Isolation (AII) and Contact
Precautions?
Answer 7: While it is true that the use of
Airborne Precautions and Contact Precautions
together for patients with more than one infectious
disease, at the same time, is not new, what is new
is a category of Combined Airborne Infection
Isolation and Contact Precautions for ONE disease
that can be transmitted via many routes. This
combined precautions category for one disease
requires the consistent wearing of eye protection
for specific infectious diseases that can also be
transmitted via the mucosal membranes of the eyes
(avian influenza, certain hemorrhagic fevers,
monkeypox, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and
smallpox). Therefore, the VA posters illustrate for
Contact Precautions, the wearing of eye protection,
isolation gown, gloves, (head covering optional) and
for Airborne Infection Isolation (AII), wearing an
N-95 respirator before entering the room (negative
air pressure) of the patient. The order in which PPE
is removed is critical to preventing the
transmission of the disease to the healthcare worker
who is wearing/removing the PPE.
Suggestions for Use of PPE Posters
- Posters “PPE 1” and “PPE 3” are intended for
visitors and staff as a visual reminder that
special, high-level precautions are needed. This
poster is not intended as a step-by-step
instructional tool.
- Poster “PPE 2” provides step-by-step
instructions on the safest way to don and off
PPE with combined Airborne Infection Isolation
and Contact Precautions. Staff should be
encouraged to read the text of the poster as
well as look at the pictures. Please note: Step
3 states to decontaminate hands and put on a
clean pair of gloves before going on to step 4.
The photos in step 4-6 depict the model wearing
CLEAN gloves.
- Use of these posters is optional. They are
intended to assist you in the event of any of
the above-listed infectious disease emergencies.
The CDC website has PPE donning/doffing posters.
The CDC posters have a different format for
removal of PPE (see Q& A section).
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