The coronavirus currently affects more than 200 countries, upending our daily lives, and placing a severe burden on the healthcare systems around the world. For protecting the health care professionals from potentially infectious patients and contaminated substances when providing care, personal protective equipment (PPE) is implemented. PPE consists of eye protection, respirators, skin protection, and hand protection to provide a barrier that helps prevent potential exposure to the disease.
Pic courtesy: cdc.gov/COVID19
Eye protection
Eye protection such as goggles or face shields protects health care professionals from splatters or splashes of droplets when providing care to patients.
Respirator
Respirators such as N95 respirators or surgical face masks are the critical and prioritized element for healthcare professionals.
Surgical masks prevent large droplets that may carry viruses and bacteria from entering one's respiratory system via the mouth or nose.
However, the masks are a looser fit and not sufficient in keeping out smaller particles. N95 respirators are the most effective masks for health care personnel. It keeps out 95 percent of small airborne particles from entering. And, due to shortage of supply, governments around the world reserve N95 respirators for the frontliners, not the general civilian.
Skin protection
Gowns and protective clothing like aprons provide a layer of protection, preventing droplets and splashes from contacting the skin.
Hand protection
Disposable surgical gloves cover hands in dealing with patients. It is an essential part when interacting with confirmed cases.
As the PPE is in shortage and should be reserved for the health care professionals, what can we do when we must go out as the civilian?
We can adopt some personal protective measures to stay safe and healthy.
We can put on a face mask when going out, keep our hands' hygiene, avoiding touching eyes, nose, mouth and follow respiratory etiquette to cover nose/mouth with a tissue coughing or sneezing.
Aside from wearing face masks, some were wearing plastic bottles on heads to seek for extra protection.
Pic courtesy: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/ Image: Lynne Carter/Facebook
But, we don’t have to do that as now we can DIY our face shields with instructions online to protect our facial area from sprays and spatter of body fluids.
Some devoted makers also make face shields to help the general public.
In conjunction with the use of face masks, face shields, and personal protective measures above, we can reduce the chance of getting the infection and relieve the burden of our health care professionals.
reference: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/ppes-important-200419071536635.html