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. 2015 Jul 1;43(7):750-1.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2015.02.005.

Variation in health care worker removal of personal protective equipment

Caroline Zellmer  1 , Sarah Van Hoof  1 , Nasia Safdar  2
Affiliations

Variation in health care worker removal of personal protective equipment

Caroline Zellmer et al. Am J Infect Control. .

Abstract

In the current era of emerging pathogens such as Ebola virus, removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) is crucial to reduce contamination of health care workers. However, current removal practices are not well described. We undertook a systematic evaluation of health care worker removal of PPE for contact isolation to examine variation in removal procedures. Findings indicate that under usual conditions, only about half of health care workers correctly remove their PPE, and very few remove their PPE in the correct order and dispose of it in the proper location.

Keywords: Emerging pathogens; Healthcare associated infection.

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