With lockdown restrictions easing across the US many states have witnessed rising cases of Covid-19. Easing lockdown restrictions has economic reasons. People cannot be locked down at home for indefinite time. However, coronavirus is still around and pretty much active. Therefore, precautions are a must.
Users of Personal Protective Equipment: –
Protective equipment medical workers use is not only for their benefit but for everyone who gets in close contact with other people. Sometimes patients infected with covid are not even aware themselves if they are asymptomatic. However, they might spread the virus unknowingly to others. Therefore, protective equipment is useful for most of the people. Healthcare workers must essentially use PPE since they get in contact with infected people. Similarly, those who work in service industry where they get in close contact with people such as beauty salons and hair dressers, they must also wear PPE. Special care must be taken in settings such as airlines where people are sitting close together in congested spaces.
Importance of PPE: –
Importance of PPE can be gauged by the fact that when pandemic hit the US everybody started to buy medical supplies in bulk causing shortage even in hospitals. Thanks to regulatory authorities such as FDA people now do not have to deal with shortages. There are more suppliers as well controlled stocking by institutions and individuals. PPE considerably helps in reducing the risk of contracting the virus. From employer’s perspective it is important to have your staff wear PPE so that customers have faith in your health and safety measures.
Different types of Personal Protective Equipment: –
Following are the different types of PPE commonly used.
- Face masks and respirators: –
Face masks are one of the most important PPE. In states where strictness was observed with regard to wearing the masks showed remarkable improvement in containing the virus. CDC recommends cloth masks to be used by general public when they are out of their homes. They must be especially careful when they are at crowded places where a safe distance of 6 feet cannot be maintained. On the other hand, healthcare workers who get in contact with covid patients must cover their faces surgical masks. When people started to buy wholesale PPE equipment in bulk, surgical masks became short in supply. Therefore, CDC recommended general public to use cloth masks and leave the surgical masks for the medical workers. Surgical masks are loose fitting masks that block splashes and large droplets from entering the body. Another more advanced form of protection is provided by respirators. N95 respirator filters out 95% of the airborne particles. This is a very efficient kind of mask that gives a tight covering of the face especially the mouth and nose. Care must be taken while donning it on and off. Respirator masks must not be reused or shared with other people.
- Gloves: –
Medical gloves also provide protection against the spread of harmful coronavirus. The gloves are among the most common protective equipment medical workers use. Healthcare workers who treat covid patients must wear the gloves before they touch the infected patients. They also protect the wearer from possibly contaminated surfaces.
- Face shields: –
Ace shields are also widely used as PPE amid the pandemic. Apart from medical workers, nice and fancy face shields are available for use of school going children. Face masks pose the risk of suffocation especially for young children. Hence face shields serve as a useful protective gear for young children.
- Gowns: –
Gowns are also used in healthcare settings to protect against the virus. They protect the wearer’s clothes from infectious germs and bacteria. There are different types of gowns for varying degrees of risk contamination. Medical gowns are tested for their performance and resistance. If they pass the various tests and standards only then they are supplied into the market.
When you have to buy medical supplies in bulk make sure you contact a reliable supplier who is approved by FDA. It is very important to buy quality PPE otherwise it would fail to give the required level of protection.
