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. 2016 Aug;64(8):359-68.
doi: 10.1177/2165079916657108.

Prevalence of Respiratory Protective Devices in U.S. Health Care Facilities: Implications for Emergency Preparedness

Kerri Wizner  1 , Lindsay Stradtman  2 , Debra Novak  3 , Ronald Shaffer  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of Respiratory Protective Devices in U.S. Health Care Facilities: Implications for Emergency Preparedness

Kerri Wizner et al. Workplace Health Saf. 2016 Aug.

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Workplace Health Saf. 2017 Aug;65(8):380. doi: 10.1177/2165079917691526. Epub 2017 Feb 9. Workplace Health Saf. 2017. PMID: 28182860

Abstract

An online questionnaire was developed to explore respiratory protective device (RPD) prevalence in U.S. health care facilities. The survey was distributed to professional nursing society members in 2014 and again in 2015 receiving 322 and 232 participant responses, respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore if the emergency preparedness climate associated with Ebola virus disease changed the landscape of RPD use and awareness. Comparing response percentages from the two sampling time frames using bivariate analysis, no significant changes were found in types of RPDs used in health care settings. N95 filtering facepiece respirators continue to be the most prevalent RPD used in health care facilities, but powered air-purifying respirators are also popular, with regional use highest in the West and Midwest. Understanding RPD use prevalence could ensure that health care workers receive appropriate device trainings as well as improve supply matching for emergency RPD stockpiling.

Keywords: emergency response; health care workers; pandemic preparedness; personal protective equipment (PPE); prevalence survey; respiratory protective devices.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Combined 2014 and 2015 response map of participant health care facility location (see Table 4, Question 1).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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