What is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)?

PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment. It is primarily used by the medical staff to ensure their safety while they deal with the patients who could be a potential carrier of any communicable infection or disease.  Though it has always existed in the medical domain and surgical organisations, but with the outbreak of corona and the severity of its impact has made PPEs a household necessity.

It has become an indispensable part of, not only the elderly and medically vulnerable ones, but for the younger generation as well. However, what needs to be underlined here is that it is primarily a surgical exigency is mostly used by CSSD or OR Staff, the people who are at high risk of catching any form of infection or injury due to their proximity with the patients.

If reports are to be believed, there was a time in the very recent months when there had been shortage of PPEs as almost every country has been vociferously consuming it. The countries that have surplus can sell the same at any amount they quote as the gap between demand and supply of any product in the medical history has never been so intangible.

Al these facts make us wonder about the components of PPEs and what exactly does it contain.

What is in PPE kit?

• A clothing item to prevent the entry of virus
• A head gear, preferably, a helmet
• A pair of gloves
• Few faces shield
• Facemasks
• Goggles to prevent inflammation of eyes.
• Any other item that could help the wearer to keep himself safe from any form of contamination and illness.

Let us now take a look at the types of PPEs available in the market-

• Eye and Face Protection– As the name itself suggests, this type of kit primarily is designed to eliminate the chances of any splashes of chemicals while dealing with the same. Eyes are one of the most sensitive sense organs and any kind of inflammation or virus can have a hazardous impact on them. Using an eye and face protection kit is therefore very important for anyone who has to be present in an infection prone area.
• Body Protection– Cotton or poly blends are generally preferred by the medical staff when they have to opt for the lab coats. If there is any risk of fire in a medical space, these coats can be of great help.
• Hand protection – It consists of the gloves that have been medically tested for their tenacity against any germ or infection. It disallows any direct dermal contact between any product or patient and the medical attender.

• Respiratory Protection- Any form of virus that could be air borne can be fought against by using a respiratory protection kit. It is generally used as the last alternative by the wearer as it is not very comfortable to wear them for a long duration. However, it becomes extremely important to use them for our own good at times.

When is PPE required?

As aforementioned, anyone who is in contact of blood, respiratory secretions, excreta, perspiration or any other bodily fluid of any patient needs to wear PPE. Be it a doctor, staff member or the patients themselves, it is not only medically relevant but also socially responsible act to use Personal Protective Equipment so that the others do not get contaminated. WHO has strongly recommended the use of respirators with the standard of N95 or equivalent by the healthcare providers who are performing aerosol-producing procedures on Covid-19 patients. Needless to add, the use of face masks, surgical gowns, aprons, glasses and gloves is also being gravely stressed upon.

Where can you get reliable PPEs from?

Surgeine Healthcare is an ideal platform where you can get an extensive personal protection kit. Moreover, keeping all the standards of hygiene and safety in mind, the company has put in some diligent efforts to ensure that their protection kits are immune to receiving any kind of infection.

Surgeine healthcare is among the few who are authorized to manufacture and supply the FDA approved PPE suits, masks, gloves, foot covers and googles. These kits being ISO (13485) and CE certified from a notified European body are manufactured under extremely strict conditions. We also take into account the proper packaging and safe transportation of the kits and all these listed factors make it an obvious choice of anyone who wants the best of the PPEs for themselves and their near and dear ones.