Articles: personal-protective-equipment.
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Over one million cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been confirmed worldwide, with the death toll exceeding 50,000 people. An important issue to be addressed concerns the exposure of health professionals to this new virus. ⋯ However, there is no specific guidance on how to proceed in cases of need for chest tubes in patients with positive COVID-19 active air leak. The objective of this work is to assist surgeons of the most diverse specialties during the chest drainage of a patient with COVID-19 and to avoid a risk of contamination to the professional and the environment.
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Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992) · Jan 2020
ReviewChest tubes in COVID-19 times: a safe way to protect the team.
What has been published so far regarding safe methods to deal with chest tube insertion during COVID-19. ⋯ Health officials are under increasing pressure to control the spread of COVID-19, which is a very virulent disease. Our analysis brought together old rules against contamination along with new tactics for professionals who deal with chest drains in order to minimize the contamination of teams during the Pandemic.
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During the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there is unprecedented demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N95 respirators and surgical masks. The ability of SARS-CoV-2 to be transmitted via respiratory droplets from asymptomatic individuals has necessitated increased usage of both N95 respirators in the healthcare setting and masks (both surgical and homemade) in public spaces. These precautions rely on two fundamental principles of transmission prevention: particle filtration and droplet containment. ⋯ These materials demonstrate significant variability in filtration characteristics, even for visually similar materials. We demonstrate a FE of 96.49% and pressure drop of 25.4 mmH20 for a double-layer of sterilization wrap used in surgical suites and a FE of 90.37% for a combination of consumer-grade materials. The excellent filtration characteristics of the former demonstrate potential utility for emergent situations when N95 respirators are not available, while those of the latter demonstrate that a high FE can be achieved using publicly available materials.
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This document aims to provide evidence-based recommendations to estimate the personal protective equipments (PPE), medical devices, and drugs commonly used in the Intensive Care Unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic literature review and gray literature assessment was performed, and the evidence was categorized using the GRADE methodology. Then a predictive model was built to support the estimation of resources needed during 30 days of the pandemic. ⋯ It is important to remark the difficult in estimating and managing the number of essential supplies and equipment required during a pandemic. The model allowed us to predict the resources required to provide critical care during 30 days of pandemic activity. Given the constant evolution of COVID-19, these recommendations might change as evidence evolves.
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The World Health Organization recognized in March 2020 the existence of a pandemic for the new coronavirus that appeared in China, in late 2019, and whose disease was named COVID-19. In this context, the SBAIT (Brazilian Society of Integrated Care for Traumatized Patients) conducted a survey with 219 trauma and emergency surgeons regarding the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the role of the surgeon in this pandemic by means of an electronic survey. ⋯ The latter increases the risk of contamination of professionals, resulting in potential losses in the working teams. Immediate measures must be taken to guarantee access to safety equipment throughout the country, since all trauma victims and/or patients with emergency surgical conditions must be treated as potential carriers of COVID-19.