Articles: personal-protective-equipment.
-
In pandemics such as COVID-19, shortages of personal protective equipment are common. One solution may be to decontaminate equipment such as facemasks for reuse. ⋯ Microwave irradiation and heat may be safe and effective viral decontamination options for N95 FFR reuse during critical shortages. The evidence does not support autoclaving or high-heat (>90°C) approaches. Physical degradation may be an issue for certain mask models, and more real-world evidence on fit is needed.
-
Introducing a new, simple and inexpensive portable equipment for lifeguards, consisting of a pre-assembled full-size plastic blanket with a mask and HEPA filter, which could offer significant time-saving advantages to reduce COVID-19 risk transmission in the first few minutes of CPR after water rescue, avoiding the negative impact of delayed ventilation. ⋯ Resuscitation techniques in COVID-19 era at the beach have added complexities for the correct use of PPE. Plastic blanket plus basic ventilations equipment resource could be a new alternative to be considered for lifeguards to keep ventilation on use while reducing risk transmission.
-
More than 40 percent of all reported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths in the United States have occurred in nursing homes. As a result, health care workers' access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control policies in nursing homes have received increased attention. ⋯ Health care worker unions were associated with a 1.29-percentage-point reduction in mortality, which represents a 30 percent relative decrease in the COVID-19 mortality rate compared with facilities without these unions. Unions were also associated with greater access to PPE, one mechanism that may link unions to lower COVID-19 mortality rates.