Abstract 12034: Personal Protective Equipment and Doffing Procedures in Out-of-Hospital Practice: Assessment With a Contamination Simulation

Abstract

Background: Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) requires specific attention, especially when doffing contaminated clothes. The aim of this study was to evaluate which PPE was less contaminating during doffing procedures. Methodology: Six subjects tested four different PPE (pictures 1 to 4): 1) Surgical gowns (SG) 2) Full body coveralls (FBC) 3) Self-made alternative PPEs (SMP) 4) Non-surgical isolation gowns (NSIG) After donning, an invisible tracer was sprayed on the gown of each subject. Then, after doffing PPE, each subject was photographed under UV lights to show areas of fluorescent “contamination” on their body. Number of contaminated areas were noted, as well as doffing time. Results: Contamination was observed with every type of PPE and with each subject. All body areas were contaminated at least once, except the face. While doffing, SG was found to be the least contaminating PPE. Contamination was more frequent with FBCs. The mean doffing time was shorter with SG and longer with FBC (table 1). Conclusion: This study confirms that doffing is a high risk of contamination procedure. Results converge towards the selection of SG over other types of PPE, which met both contamination criteria and shorter time for doffing. Specific attention should be paid to legs and abdomino-pelvic areas. Additional protections such as protective trousers or aprons could be added.