TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel personal protective equipment coverall was rated higher than standard Ebola virus personal protective equipment in terms of comfort, mobility and perception of safety when tested by health care workers in Liberia and in a United States biocontainment unit
AU - Garibaldi, Brian T.
AU - Ruparelia, Chandrakant
AU - Shaw-Saliba, Kathryn
AU - Sauer, Lauren M.
AU - Maragakis, Lisa L.
AU - Glancey, Margaret
AU - Subah, Marion
AU - Nelson, Allyson R.
AU - Wilkason, Colby
AU - Scavo, Laura
AU - Litwin, Lindsay
AU - Osei, Patience
AU - Yazdi, Youseph
PY - 2019/3
Y1 - 2019/3
N2 - Background: During the 2014-2016 Ebola virus epidemic, more than 500 health care workers (HCWs) died in spite of the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The Johns Hopkins University Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) and Jhpiego, an international nongovernmental organization affiliate of Johns Hopkins, collaborated to create new PPE to improve the ease of the doffing process. Methods: HCWs in Liberia and a US biocontainment unit compared standard Médecins Sans Frontière PPE (PPE A) with the new PPE (PPE B). Participants wore each PPE ensemble while performing simulated patient care activities. Range of motion, time to doff, comfort, and perceived risk were measured. Results: Overall, 100% of participants preferred PPE B over PPE A (P <.0001); 98.1% of respondents would recommend PPE B for their home clinical unit (P <.0001). There was a trend towards greater comfort in PPE B. HCWs at both sites felt more at risk in PPE A than PPE B (71.9% vs 25% in Liberia, P <.0001; 100% vs 40% in the US biocontainment unit, P <.0001). Conclusions: HCWs preferred a new PPE ensemble to Médecins Sans Frontière PPE for high-consequence pathogens. Further studies on the safety of this new PPE need to be conducted.
AB - Background: During the 2014-2016 Ebola virus epidemic, more than 500 health care workers (HCWs) died in spite of the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The Johns Hopkins University Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) and Jhpiego, an international nongovernmental organization affiliate of Johns Hopkins, collaborated to create new PPE to improve the ease of the doffing process. Methods: HCWs in Liberia and a US biocontainment unit compared standard Médecins Sans Frontière PPE (PPE A) with the new PPE (PPE B). Participants wore each PPE ensemble while performing simulated patient care activities. Range of motion, time to doff, comfort, and perceived risk were measured. Results: Overall, 100% of participants preferred PPE B over PPE A (P <.0001); 98.1% of respondents would recommend PPE B for their home clinical unit (P <.0001). There was a trend towards greater comfort in PPE B. HCWs at both sites felt more at risk in PPE A than PPE B (71.9% vs 25% in Liberia, P <.0001; 100% vs 40% in the US biocontainment unit, P <.0001). Conclusions: HCWs preferred a new PPE ensemble to Médecins Sans Frontière PPE for high-consequence pathogens. Further studies on the safety of this new PPE need to be conducted.
KW - Health care worker safety
KW - High consequence pathogens
KW - Infection prevention
KW - Viral hemorrhagic fever
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ajic.2018.08.014
DO - 10.1016/j.ajic.2018.08.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 30301656
AN - SCOPUS:85058466436
VL - 47
SP - 298
EP - 304
JO - American Journal of Infection Control
JF - American Journal of Infection Control
SN - 0196-6553
IS - 3
ER -