A Review on Methods of Face Masks Sterilization for Reuse Owing To Crisis During COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1240-1243
Author(s):  
Pradyuman Singh Rajput ◽  
Asish Kumar Saha ◽  
Insiya Gangardiwala ◽  
Anand Vijayakumar Palur Ramakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
First Line ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Enormous Amount ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Common

The COVID-19 pandemic initially started from the Wuhan capital city of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China had now led to a severe public health hazard across the globe, the recorded death is approximately 958 thousand globally and counting. With the enormous amount of spread of the disease, a severe crisis for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is being noticed across the globe. Face masks being the first line of defence for all the healthcare workers as well for the common public. It became mandatory to wear face masks before entering the patient care area. The countries who are not manufacturing it locally had to depend on other countries for the procurement. As there is a severe supply chain disruption due to the lockdown measures taken by all the countries to contain the disease, so it had become difficult to procure the face masks from the manufacturing countries. The price for these PPEs is also rising at an alarming rate with the increase in the COVID-19 cases and the huge rate of consumption by the healthcare and other sectors. Therefore, with limited resources, the hospital has to run its services. The CDC, WHO and ICMR have released several guidelines from time to time for sterilization and reuse of face masks. This article will discuss the various methods that can be utilized to sterilize the face masks and reuse of it.

scholarly journals Evaluating the contributions of strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the healthcare setting: a modelling study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e044644
Author(s):  
Xueting Qiu ◽  
Joel C Miller ◽  
Derek R MacFadden ◽  
William P Hanage
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Setting ◽  
Stochastic Simulations ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Random Testing ◽  
Weekly Basis ◽  
Force Of Infection ◽  
Effective Use

IntroductionSince its onset, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, with particularly severe outcomes in healthcare institutions and congregate settings. To mitigate spread, healthcare systems have been cohorting patients to limit contacts between uninfected patients and potentially infected patients or healthcare workers (HCWs). A major challenge in managing the pandemic is the presence of currently asymptomatic/presymptomatic individuals capable of transmitting the virus, who could introduce COVID-19 into uninfected cohorts. The optimal combination of personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and other approaches to prevent these events is unclear, especially in light of ongoing limited resources.MethodsUsing stochastic simulations with a susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered dynamic model, we quantified and compared the impacts of PPE use, patient and HCWs surveillance testing and subcohorting strategies.ResultsIn the base case without testing or PPE, the healthcare system was rapidly overwhelmed, and became a net contributor to the force of infection. We found that effective use of PPE by both HCWs and patients could prevent this scenario, while random testing of apparently asymptomatic/presymptomatic individuals on a weekly basis was less effective. We also found that even imperfect use of PPE could provide substantial protection by decreasing the force of infection. Importantly, we found that creating smaller patient/HCW-interaction subcohorts can provide additional resilience to outbreak development with limited resources.ConclusionThese findings reinforce the importance of ensuring adequate PPE supplies even in the absence of testing and provide support for strict subcohorting regimens to reduce outbreak potential in healthcare institutions.

scholarly journals Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 detection in nasopharyngeal swab and saliva

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumio Iwasaki ◽  
Shinichi Fujisawa ◽  
Sho Nakakubo ◽  
Keisuke Kamada ◽  
Yu Yamashita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Load ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Virus Detection ◽  
Pcr Detection ◽  
Concordance Rate ◽  
Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Convalescent Phase ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Face

We prospectively compared the efficacy of PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 between paired nasopharyngeal and saliva samples in 76 patients including ten COVID-19 patients. The overall concordance rate of the virus detection between the two samples was 97.4% (95%CI, 90.8-99.7). Viral load was equivalent in COVID-19 patients, but the virus tended to disappear earlier in saliva at convalescent phase compared to nasopharyngeal samples. These results suggest that saliva is a reliable noninvasive alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs and facilitate widespread PCR testing in the face of shortages of swabs and protective equipment without posing a risk to healthcare workers.

scholarly journals Challenges for Healthcare Workers Caring for COVID-19 Patients in Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 004695802110602
Author(s):  
Herley Windo Setiawan ◽  
Ika Nur Pratiwi ◽  
Lailatun Nimah ◽  
Zulfayandi Pawanis ◽  
Arief Bakhtiar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Hospital Managers ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

COVID-19 pandemic raises various challenges faced by health workers in hospitals. This study explored strategies for overcoming challenges in caring for COVID-19 patients at hospitals in Indonesia based on healthcare workers’ experience. In-depth interviews were employed with 28 healthcare workers (physicians and nurses) who were purposively sampled. Data were collected via phone and analysed using the Colaizzi method. Five following challenges were found: difficulties in working with personal protective equipment (PPE), offline training for handling Covid and using PPE not being implemented evenly for all health workers, physical and psychological fatigue, difficulties in carrying out health education and assessment towards patients and families, and limited resources to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, some barriers require support from the government, public and hospital managers. The information gained from research on the strategies for caring for COVID-19 patients can contribute to better preparedness for hospitals and health workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Perioperative challenges in managing a morbidly obese patient with COVID-19 undergoing an elective tracheostomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. e243559
Author(s):  
Kai Ming Teah ◽  
Serena Shu Ying Tsen ◽  
Kean Khang Fong ◽  
Tat Boon Yeap
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Ventilation ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Distress Syndrome ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Critically Ill Patient ◽  
Morbidly Obese ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Morbidly Obese Patient ◽  
The Common ◽  
Elective Tracheostomy

Tracheostomy is an aerosol-generating procedure and performing it in patients with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation raises significant concerns of infection risk to healthcare workers. We herein report a case of tracheostomy in a critically ill patient with severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. This article depicts the use of personal protective equipment, highlighting the common challenges it presents and ways to address them.

scholarly journals Common Behaviors and Faults When Doffing Personal Protective Equipment for Patients With Serious Communicable Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. S214-S220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel M Mumma ◽  
Francis T Durso ◽  
Lisa M Casanova ◽  
Kimberly Erukunuakpor ◽  
Colleen S Kraft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Simulated Patients ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Hand Sanitizer ◽  
The Common ◽  
High Level

Abstract Background The safe removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) can limit transmission of serious communicable diseases, but this process poses challenges to healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods We observed 41 HCWs across 4 Ebola treatment centers in Georgia doffing PPE for simulated patients with serious communicable diseases. Using human factors methodologies, we obtained the details, sequences, and durations of doffing steps; identified the ways each step can fail (failure modes [FMs]); quantified the riskiness of FMs; and characterized the workload of doffing steps. Results Eight doffing steps were common to all hospitals—removal of boot covers, gloves (outer and inner pairs), the outermost garment, the powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) hood, and the PAPR helmet assembly; repeated hand hygiene (eg, with hand sanitizer); and a final handwashing with soap and water. Across hospitals, we identified 256 FMs during the common doffing steps, 61 of which comprised 19 common FMs. Most of these common FMs were above average in their riskiness at each hospital. At all hospitals, hand hygiene, removal of the outermost garment, and removal of boot covers were above average in their overall riskiness. Measurements of workload revealed that doffing steps were often mentally demanding, and this facet of workload correlated most strongly with the effortfulness of a doffing step. Conclusions We systematically identified common points of concern in protocols for doffing high-level PPE. Addressing FMs related to hand hygiene and the removal of the outermost garment, boot covers, and PAPR hood could improve HCW safety when doffing high-level PPE. We identified ways that doffing protocols for high-level personal protective equipment may fail to protect healthcare workers. Hand hygiene, removing the outermost garment, boot covers, and respirator hood harbored the greatest risk and failed in similar ways across different hospitals.

scholarly journals Healthcare workers’ stress when caring for COVID-19 patients: An altruistic perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1490-1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Wang ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Kaili Hu ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Meichen Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Level ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Frontline Staff ◽  
The Government ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers

Background: When the contagious COVID-19 spread worldwide, the frontline staff faced unprecedented excessive work pressure and expectations of all of the society. Objective: The aim was to explore healthcare workers’ stress and influencing factors when caring for COVID-19 patients from an altruistic perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital during the outbreak of COVID-19 between February and March 2020 in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province in China. Data were collected from 1208 healthcare workers. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Ethical considerations: Research ethics approval (with the code of TJ-IRB20200379) was obtained from Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Written informed consent was also received from participants. Results: Less than 60% of participants chose moderate or severe stress on all stressors, indicating a low stress level among healthcare workers. The main source of stress among frontline healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients came from the fear of being infected, the fear of family members being infected, and the discomfort caused by protective equipment. Frontline staff who were nurses, were married, and had worked more than 20 days suffered higher stress, whereas rescue staff showed lower stress. Conclusion: The healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 had low stress level, although they still had the fear of being infected or uncomfortable feeling caused by personal protective equipment. A low stress level among healthcare workers indicated their professional devotion and altruism during COVID-19 epidemic. Medical institutions and the government should continue to strengthen infection prevention measures and provide more comprehensive care involving families of frontline healthcare workers, especially nurses and married staff. It will be a lesson to other countries that awaking healthcare workers’ inside motivation and providing necessary support from government and society were significant.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic in Nepal: A Threat to Low Resources Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Seshananda Sanjel ◽  
Tarun Paudel ◽  
Sangita Sanjel
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
First Line ◽  
Professional Workers ◽  
Contact Transmission ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

At present, the global community is experiencing a pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the third disease from a coronavirus to cause a global outbreak. Person-to-person transmission occurs through droplet or contact transmission and if there is a lack of rigorous infection control or if no proper personal protective equipment (PPE) is available, it may endanger the first-line healthcare workers. In Nepal most of the cases are those who traveled to China and India till date, the infection is transmitted to clusters of societies only. Health workers as well as the general public has to be protected from getting infection applying established and universal infection prevention strategies including social distancing, hand hygiene and application of personal protective devices as required. Person-to-person contact is one of the most predominant ways of transmission of the disease, hence general public as well as all the professional workers have to follow the infection prevention approaches.

scholarly journals Exposição à fumaça cirúrgica: como se proteger?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jéssica Ribeiro Aranha ◽  
Patricia Aroni ◽  
Evelin Daiane Gabriel Pinhatti ◽  
Renata Perfeito Ribeiro
Keyword(s):  
Health Personnel ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Chemical Components ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Respiratory Protection ◽  
Surgical Smoke ◽  
The Face ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
The Common

Objetivo: relatar o uso do equipamento para proteção respiratória por trabalhadores expostos à inalação da fumaça cirúrgica. Método: trata-se de um estudo descritivo, do tipo informativo, com base em publicações pertinentes ao uso de equipamentos de proteção respiratória utilizados pelos trabalhadores expostos à fumaça cirúrgica. Realizou-se uma busca bibliográfica de artigos científicos que abordassem o tema nas seguintes bases de dados: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Sci-Versi Scopus e LILACS. Resultados: registrou-se que as máscaras N95 filtram partículas maiores que 0,3 mícrons, portanto, nem todas as substâncias são retidas com o seu uso, já que os compostos químicos presentes na fumaça cirúrgica medem de 0,1 a 0,5 mícrons. Avalia-se, dessa forma, que a recomendação do uso da máscara cirúrgica comum pelos trabalhadores expostos à fumaça cirúrgica não é segura. Ressalta-se, porém, que existem recomendações para o seu uso diante dessa exposição. Conclusão: fazem-se necessárias, com a exposição dos trabalhadores aos componentes químicos presentes na fumaça cirúrgica produzida pelo eletrocautério, a recomendação e a implementação do uso da máscara N95, aspiradores próprios para a fumaça cirúrgica e exaustores de ambiente. Descritores: Eletrocoagulação; Equipamentos de Proteção; Pessoal de Saúde; Saúde do Trabalhador; Fumaça; Exposição Ocupacional.AbstractObjective: to report the use of respiratory protection equipment by workers exposed to inhalation of surgical smoke. Method: this is a descriptive, informative study, based on publications relevant to the use of respiratory protective equipment used by workers exposed to surgical smoke. A bibliographic search of scientific articles that addressed the topic was carried out in the following databases: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Sci-Versi Scopus and LILACS. Results: it was registered that N95 masks filter particles larger than 0.3 microns; therefore, not all substances are retained with their use, since the chemical compounds present in surgical smoke measure from 0.1 to 0.5 microns. Thus, it is assessed that the recommendation for the use of the common surgical mask by workers exposed to surgical smoke is not safe. It is noteworthy, however, that there are recommendations for its use in the face of this exposure. Conclusion: it is necessary, with the exposure of workers to the chemical components present in the surgical smoke produced by the electrocautery, the recommendation and implementation of the use of the N95 mask, vacuum cleaners for surgical smoke and room exhaust fans. Descriptors: Electrocoagulation; Protective Devices; Health Personnel; Occupational Health; Smoke; Occupational Exposure.ResumenObjetivo: informar sobre el uso de equipos de protección respiratoria por parte de los trabajadores expuestos a la inhalación de humo quirúrgico. Método: este es un estudio descriptivo e informativo, basado en publicaciones relevantes para el uso de equipos de protección respiratoria utilizados por trabajadores expuestos al humo quirúrgico. Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica de artículos científicos que abordaron el tema en las siguientes bases de datos: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Sci-Versi Scopus y LILACS. Resultados: se registró que las máscaras N95 filtran partículas de más de 0.3 micras, por lo tanto, no todas las sustancias se retienen con su uso, ya que los compuestos químicos presentes en el humo quirúrgico miden de 0.1 a 0.5 micras. Por lo tanto, se evalúa que la recomendación para el uso de la máscara quirúrgica común por parte de los trabajadores expuestos al humo quirúrgico no es segura. Cabe señalar, sin embargo, que hay recomendaciones para su uso ante esta exposición. Conclusión: con la exposición de los trabajadores a los componentes químicos presentes en el humo quirúrgico producido por elelectrocauterio, es necesario recomendar e implementar el uso de la máscara N95, aspiradoras para humo quirúrgico y extractores de aire. Descriptores: Electrocoagulación; Equipos de Seguridad; Personal de Salud; Salud Laboral; Humo; Exposición Profesional.

scholarly journals Occupational Health Hazards among Healthcare Workers in Kampala, Uganda

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawlance Ndejjo ◽  
Geofrey Musinguzi ◽  
Xiaozhong Yu ◽  
Esther Buregyeya ◽  
David Musoke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Health Hazards ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Cross Sectional

Objective.To assess the occupational health hazards faced by healthcare workers and the mitigation measures.Methods.We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing quantitative data collection methods among 200 respondents who worked in 8 major health facilities in Kampala.Results.Overall, 50.0% of respondents reported experiencing an occupational health hazard. Among these, 39.5% experienced biological hazards while 31.5% experienced nonbiological hazards. Predictors for experiencing hazards included not wearing the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), working overtime, job related pressures, and working in multiple health facilities. Control measures to mitigate hazards were availing separate areas and containers to store medical waste and provision of safety tools and equipment.Conclusion.Healthcare workers in this setting experience several hazards in their workplaces. Associated factors include not wearing all necessary protective equipment, working overtime, experiencing work related pressures, and working in multiple facilities. Interventions should be instituted to mitigate the hazards. Specifically PPE supply gaps, job related pressures, and complacence in adhering to mitigation measures should be addressed.

scholarly journals Early experiences of radiographers in Ireland during the COVID-19 crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane J. Foley ◽  
Anne O’Loughlin ◽  
Jill Creedon
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
First Line ◽  
Early Experiences ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Imaging is crucial for assessing the severity and progression of COVID-19. Radiographers are amongst the first-line health professionals that may be exposed to infected persons. This work describes the early experience of radiographers in Ireland to the impact of COVID-19 using two electronic surveys distributed 6 weeks apart. Results were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results A total of 370 responded to the first survey and 276 the second, with all six Irish health regions represented. Three quarters of radiographers (77%) reported having adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) available to them. However, almost half of the radiographers were inadvertently exposed to COVID-19-positive patients without appropriate PPE, largely attributed to poor communication and testing. Anxiety levels while initially high, reduced substantially 6 weeks into the crisis period. However, obvious distress was noted amongst some respondents. Forty percent of radiographers reported burnout symptoms due to the COVID-19 crisis and 30% reported considering changing jobs or retiring since the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusion Clear communication regarding changing protocols and importantly patients’ infectious status are essential to safeguard healthcare workers and to minimise unnecessary anxiety and distress. Attention is required to staff mental health including the identification of burnout symptoms to prevent long-term negative consequences of the pandemic on radiography services.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document