Personal protective equipment

What it is

Standard precautions is a method of infection prevention and control in which all human blood and body substances, meaning blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, non-intact skin and mucous membranes, are considered infectious. Personal protective equipment is what that method puts on the body: use appropriate PPE to prevent skin and mucous membrane exposure, and use one or more of these items based on the degree and risk of exposure.

It sits beside two things that cost nothing: proper hand washing before and after a patient encounter, and covering your cough and sneeze. The items are gown, gloves, face shield, mask and eye protection.

The four items and when each is worn

1. Gloves. Wear gloves whenever in contact with blood, other body substances, or contaminated items and surfaces, and when in an isolation room. Wear and change gloves between tasks or procedures on the same patient, so that one pair does not carry soiling from one procedure to the next in the same bed.

1. Gowns and plastic aprons. Wear a gown or plastic apron to prevent soiling or contamination of clothes during procedures or patient care activities.

1. Mask, surgical or N95. Wear a surgical mask, with protective eye or face wear, if splashing or aerosolization of blood or body fluids is expected. Wear an N95 mask when indicated to enter an airborne isolation room. The two masks are not one thing, and what decides between them is the route by which the infection spreads.

1. Protective eye or face wear. Wear it if required for combined protection from eye or face contamination by aerosolized body substances.