Articles: personal-protective-equipment.
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Hospital pediatrics · Jul 2020
ReviewCOVID-19 and Keeping Clean: A Narrative Review To Ascertain the Efficacy of Personal Protective Equipment To Safeguard Health Care Workers Against SARS-CoV-2.
Identifying the optimal amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) is a formidable challenge when faced with a new contagion such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Unequivocally, there are dangers to health care workers (and by extension, their patients, colleagues, and communities) if not enough equipment is donned to safeguard them. And yet, there are also dangers to patients, colleagues, and the community if resources are overconsumed and result in hoarding, shortages, and inequitable distribution, all of which are occurring as the worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues. ⋯ Findings are extrapolated from investigations in 4 general domains: early investigations into SARS-CoV-2, retrospective studies about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1, prospective studies of influenza and other common respiratory viruses, and laboratory PPE studies. Available evidence suggests that contact and droplet precautions, in addition to eye protection and standard hygiene measures, should be adequate in the vast majority of clinical settings when caring for patients with SARS-CoV-2. Adherence to guidelines promoting appropriate levels of PPE should safeguard practitioners while mitigating against resource overuse.
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All gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures have a high risk of aerosol contamination of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to endoscopists, nurses, and healthcare assistants. Given the current pandemic situation of COVID-19, the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society issued the recommendation for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy based on the status of COVID-19 as of April 9, 2020, in Japan: (i) indications for GI endoscopy in the pandemic of COVID-19; (ii) practical protective equipment for medical personnel depending on the risk for COVID-19; (iii) preprocedural management, such as pharyngeal local anesthesia using lidocaine spray which has a potential to generate the aerosols; (iv) ideal settings of the endoscopy room including the numbers of the staff and the patients; (v) postprocedural management, such as undressing and follow-up of the patients, as well as the involved staff, were documented to fit the practical scenarios in GI endoscopy, with the available data in Japan and the world. We believe that certain measures will prevent further spread of COVID-19.
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In January 2020, a global pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization authorities for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since then, we have looked for ways to avoid transmission with mitigation measures and social distancing. ⋯ Many innovations have been proposed to assist providers including barriers to use during airway management. We present adaptations to previously described intubation or "aerosol" boxes.