Awareness of Personal Protective Equipment Among Frontline Postgraduate Medical Residents who Provide Care to Patients with Coronavirus Disease-2019

Abstract

Background: To combat the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which affected the entire world, health-care workers (HCWs) were required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE offers protection by preventing microorganisms from contaminating hands, eyes, clothing, hair, and shoes. It is mandatory to know about the proper usage of PPE. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the awareness of PPE and its effects on frontline health-care professionals who provide care to patients with COVID-19. Subjects and Methods: This noninterventional cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in 108 postgraduate (PG) medical residents who have been treated and provided care for COVID-19 in a tertiary care hospital. The Google questionnaire consisted of 25 questions prevalidated through the literature, senior faculty in the department, and ethics. Results: About 87.03% of the 108 PGs were trained in the donning and doffing protocols, whereas 92.59% were aware of the steps. About 62.96% did not follow the two-person protocol for doffing. About 83.33% were aware of the decontamination protocol of PPE. About 64.81% had difficulty intubating and 62.96% had headaches after using PPE. Conclusions: HCWs in a tertiary care center are aware of PPE use and protocols therein. Even though they were adequately trained about protocols, reluctance, and technical difficulties in following them still exist, which can be solved by adequate and repeated training. The problems faced with the use of PPE have appropriate solutions.