Personal protection equipment

Personal protective equipment is special equipment that you wear to create a barrier between you and germs. This barrier reduces the likelihood of touching, exposing, and spreading germs.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) helps prevent the spread of germs in the hospital. This can protect people and healthcare workers from infections.

All hospital staff, patients and visitors must wear PPE when they will come into contact with blood or other body fluids.

Types of personal protective equipment

Wearing gloves protects your hands from germs and helps reduce their spread.

All the  wearing masks They cover the nose and mouth.

• Some have a clear plastic part that covers the eyes.
• A surgical mask helps stop the spread of germs from the nose and mouth. It can also prevent you from inhaling some germs.
• A special respiratory mask (respirator) creates a tight seal around the nose and mouth. It may be needed so that you do not inhale small germs such as tuberculosis bacteria, the measles virus, or chickenpox.

La eye protection Includes face coverings and goggles. These protect the mucous membranes in the eyes from blood and other body fluids. If these liquids come into contact with the eyes, microbes in the liquid can enter the body through the mucous membranes.

La clothing includes gowns, aprons, head coverings and shoe covers.

• They are often used during surgery to protect you and the patient.
• They are also used during surgery to protect you when working with body fluids.
• Visitors wear gowns if they are visiting a person who is in isolation due to an illness that can spread easily.

You may need special personal protective equipment when handling some cancer drugs. This equipment is called cytotoxic PPE.

• You may need to wear a gown with long sleeves and elastic cuffs. This gown should prevent liquids from touching the skin.
• You may also need to wear shoe covers, protective glasses, and special gloves.

Choose the appropriate personal protective equipment

You may need to use different types of personal protective equipment for different people. Your workplace has written instructions on when to use such equipment and what type to use. You will need personal protective equipment when you are caring for people who are in isolation, as well as other patients.

Ask your supervisor how you can learn more about protective equipment.

After using personal protective equipment

Remove and discard personal protective equipment safely to protect others from exposure to germs. Before leaving your work area, remove all personal protective equipment and place it in the appropriate location. This may include:

• Special laundry containers that can be reused after cleaning
• Special waste containers that are different from other waste containers
• Specially marked bags for cytotoxic personal protective equipment

Alternative names

EPP

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Personal protective equipment. www.cdc.gov/niosh/ppe. Updated January 31, 2018. Accessed October 22, 2019.

Palmore TN. Infection prevention and control in the health care setting. In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 298.