By Introduction:
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Kits, sometimes referred to as the “retrofit kit,” is a set of “smart” components that greatly enhance and improve the abilities of protective equipment (PE) and its wearer. The purpose of PPE is to enhance a wearer’s capabilities and to helps to protect the person from various things. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Kits are designed to provide the essential equipment, tools, and proper protective clothing in the field during a disaster, disaster mitigation, viral pandemic, or some other event. These kits will provide equipment and expertise that may be needed by the country’s health care workers, mainly doctors and nurses, when working in an infectious environment during pandemics. The kit includes protective gear such as face masks, goggles, and gloves. The personal protective kit prevents the contact of a person with an infectious substance or any bodily fluid that might contain viral or bacterial micro-organism. It prevents contact by creating a protective barrier between the health care personnel and the infectious material. This way, the doctor or any other health care worker can perform his/her duty without getting in contact with the pathogenic substance itself.
Components of PPE kits:
A personal protection equipment (PPE) kit has various types of components, each with its specific function. The most important of these components are gloves, shoe covers, masks, eye protection, respirators, and face masks.
The primary function of each component is the same, i.e., to provide protection against any infectious disease out there.
PPE protection against Coronavirus:
To understand if a PPE kit can provide protection against the Coronavirus or not, we need to know the details about Coronavirus first and how it is spread locally.
Coronavirus is a type of different viruses. Some of them cause serious diseases. The most newly discovered one is the SARS-CoV-2, which has recently caused a pandemic of respiratory illness known as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 first emerged in China during December 2019. Slowly and gradually, the cases increased, and soon the virus infected the whole world. Right now, more than 10 million people are infected with this disease, and many have lost their lives. The main symptoms of Coronavirus include fever, chills, and dry cough. Also, the person experiences difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath as the virus mainly affects the lungs. Many people have also reported fatigue, sore throat, diarrhea, nausea, loss of sense of taste and smell, vomiting, and congestion.
The real reason why Coronavirus has caused a pandemic is that it is highly infectious and can easily transmit from a person to another. The symptoms of Coronavirus occur mainly after 14 days of infection, and the person can infect many other people during this time if proper precautions are not taken. There is no vaccine for Coronavirus at the moment; however, doctors from all around the world are working day and night to create one and end this pandemic once and for all. The Coronavirus can be prevented through different measures like washing hands properly, wearing PPE products like masks, gloves, etc.
The people who are infected are highly advised to remain in quarantine so that the virus does not spread further.
Can PPE kits protect against Covid-19:
Now, as we know that the Coronavirus spreads from person to person through coughing, sneezing, and air droplets, etc. It is pretty evident that one needs to cover themselves in order to protect from this infectious disease. Now the PPE kits can protect a person from Coronavirus by blocking the infectious pathogen and creating a barrier between the person and the virus. These PPE kits can provide a high level of protection against COVID-19 if they are worn correctly and taken care of.
How to properly wear PPE kits:
There are different ways to wear PPE kits properly. Practice and training of medical staff are necessary and critical. There are some correct methods of wearing and using the PPE kits correctly.
- Identify the right and proper gown size: Although many people don’t pay attention to it, however using the right gown size is very important.
- Try to use hand sanitiser for hand hygiene after every 30 or 45 minutes.
- Put on isolation gown: Choose the correct gown for you and tie all the ties on the gown appropriately.
- Use a proper NIOSH approved N-95 respirator or mask: Using a respirator is very important during the pandemic. The respirator should be fitted to the nose if it has a nosepiece with both hands. One thing to take care of is that both the respirator and the mask should be extended under the chin so that the nose and mouth both get proper protection from the virus.
- If using a respirator, both the straps should be placed at the base of the neck and on the top of the head. A user seal check should always be performed after putting on a respirator.
- The guidance for using a mask is also the same, and both the straps should be properly tied. If you have a mask with loops, then it should be appropriately hooked around the ears.
- Using goggles or face shields: Face shields and goggles are very important for eye protection. One should take care that while wearing the N-95 respirators, it should not interfere with the positioning of the eye protection.
- Using Gloves: Gloves should be used while checking a patient and should be disposed of once used.
The PPE kits can provide a full degree of protection against different types of infectious pathogens, including the Coronavirus, if they are correctly used. Besides using the PPE kits, the medical personnel, as well as the other people, should maintain SOPs and act according to the given guidelines by WHO. If proper care is taken and SOPs are maintained, the coronavirus pandemic can end, and people can resume their healthy lives once again.
Author Bio:
Manoj Parmar has been working in the manufacturing and importing of medical and healthcare supplies for over 15 years. He currently works at Glove Club Ltd which was established in 1994 and a leading manufacturer and supplier of medical consumables with products including disposable gloves, masks, dental and paper products. Bringing his wealth of experience he has recently started Supreme Wellbeing, supplying a range of vitamins and supplements. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter @p4rma
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