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Survey of UK Health Care First Responders' Knowledge of Personal Protective Equipment Requirements
Jan Schumacher1, Alexandra R Bond2, Valentine Woodham3
11Department of Anesthesiology,Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust,London,UK.
Introduction:
An adequate level of personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary when treating patients with highly infectious diseases or those contaminated with hazardous substances.
Methods:
Following National Institute for Health Research's Research Centre (London, United Kingdom) approval, the authors of this study conducted a survey of specialist registrars' knowledge of the respiratory and skin protection requirements needed during a resuscitation scenario with Advanced Life Support. Participant responses were compared to UK national recommendations and to a previous survey in 2009.
Results:
A total of 98 specialist registrars (in Anesthesiology, n=51; in Emergency Medicine (EM), n=21; and in Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) n=26) completed hand-delivered surveys. The best knowledge of PPE requirements (76%) was found for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), with less knowledge about PPE requirements for anthrax, plague, Ebola virus disease (EVD), and smallpox (60%). The results show limited knowledge of PPE requirements (20%-30%) for various chemical warfare agents. Personal protective equipment knowledge regarding treatment of sarin-contaminated casualties was over-rated by 80%, and for patients with EVD, it was over-rated by up to 67% of participants.
Conclusion:
The results of the tested cohort indicate that current knowledge regarding PPE for chemical warfare agents remains very limited.
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