Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Community, Environment & Policy Department, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Am J Ind Med. 2020 Aug;63(8):655-658. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23144. Epub 2020 Jun 4.
As the US health care system began to respond to the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, demand for respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE) increased precipitously, as did the number of users. This commentary discusses ensuing deviations from accepted respiratory PPE program practices, which potentially increased risk to health care workers. Such lapses included omitting user training and fit testing, provision of unapproved devices, and application of devices in settings and ways for which they were not intended. The temporary compromise of professionally accepted standards due to exigencies must not become the new normal. Rather, the current attention to PPE should be leveraged to enhance practice, motivate vital research, and strengthen professional, governmental, and institutional capabilities to control health care worker exposures to infectious hazards.
随着美国医疗保健系统开始应对 2019 年冠状病毒病疫情，对呼吸个人防护设备 (PPE) 的需求急剧增加，使用者数量也随之增加。本评论讨论了随后偏离公认的呼吸 PPE 计划实践的情况，这可能会增加医护人员的风险。这些失误包括省略用户培训和适合性测试、提供未经批准的设备，以及在不适合的环境和方式下使用设备。由于紧急情况而暂时放弃专业上可接受的标准绝不能成为新常态。相反，应该利用目前对 PPE 的关注来加强实践，激发重要的研究，并增强专业、政府和机构控制医护人员接触感染性危害的能力。
