Exposure to a Surrogate Measure of Contamination From Simulated Patients by Emergency Department Personnel Wearing Personal Protective Equipment
Oren Feldman, MD1; Michal Meir, MD2; Danielle Shavit, BSc3; et alRavit Idelman, MD1; Itai Shavit, MD1
Author Affiliations Article Information
JAMA. Published online April 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6633
A major challenge with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is the effective protection of health care workers.1 Recommendations for the use of personal protective equipment to protect against SARS-CoV-2 exposure by health care workers were recently published by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For aerosol-generating procedures, N95 respirators, eye protection, isolation gowns, and gloves were recommended. Coveralls, boots with a cover, and hair coverings were not part of the recommended protective clothing.2,3
We assessed the protection of emergency physicians and nurses wearing the recommended personal protective equipment while caring for a simulated patient with respiratory distress.