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. 2020 Oct:59:70-75.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.06.005. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Personal protective equipment and intensive care unit healthcare worker safety in the COVID-19 era (PPE-SAFE): An international survey

Alexis Tabah  1 , Mahesh Ramanan  2 , Kevin B Laupland  3 , Niccolò Buetti  4 , Andrea Cortegiani  5 , Johannes Mellinghoff  6 , Andrew Conway Morris  7 , Luigi Camporota  8 , Nathalie Zappella  9 , Muhammed Elhadi  10 , Pedro Povoa  11 , Karin Amrein  12 , Gabriela Vidal  13 , Lennie Derde  14 , Matteo Bassetti  15 , Guy Francois  16 , Nathalie Ssi Yan Kai  17 , Jan J De Waele  18 ; PPE-SAFE contributors
Affiliations

Personal protective equipment and intensive care unit healthcare worker safety in the COVID-19 era (PPE-SAFE): An international survey

Alexis Tabah et al. J Crit Care. 2020 Oct.

Erratum in

Abstract

Purpose: To survey healthcare workers (HCW) on availability and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) caring for COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Materials and method: A web-based survey distributed worldwide in April 2020.

Results: We received 2711 responses from 1797 (67%) physicians, 744 (27%) nurses, and 170 (6%) Allied HCW. For routine care, most (1557, 58%) reportedly used FFP2/N95 masks, waterproof long sleeve gowns (1623; 67%), and face shields/visors (1574; 62%). Powered Air-Purifying Respirators were used routinely and for intubation only by 184 (7%) and 254 (13%) respondents, respectively. Surgical masks were used for routine care by 289 (15%) and 47 (2%) for intubations. At least one piece of standard PPE was unavailable for 1402 (52%), and 817 (30%) reported reusing single-use PPE. PPE was worn for a median of 4 h (IQR 2, 5). Adverse effects of PPE were associated with longer shift durations and included heat (1266, 51%), thirst (1174, 47%), pressure areas (1088, 44%), headaches (696, 28%), Inability to use the bathroom (661, 27%) and extreme exhaustion (492, 20%).

Conclusions: HCWs reported widespread shortages, frequent reuse of, and adverse effects related to PPE. Urgent action by healthcare administrators, policymakers, governments and industry is warranted.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health care workers; Intensive care; Personal protective equipment; Safety.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. Tabah has nothing to disclose, Dr. Ramanan has nothing to disclose, Prof. Laupland has nothing to disclose, Dr. Buetti has nothing to disclose, Dr. Cortegiani has nothing to disclose, Mr. Mellinghoff has nothing to disclose, Dr. Conway Morris reports grants from Wellcome Trust, during the conduct of the study; Dr. Camporota has nothing to disclose, Dr. Zappella has nothing to disclose, Dr. Vidal has nothing to disclose, Dr. Elhadi has nothing to disclose, Dr. Povoa reports personal fess from Orion, personal fees from Pfizer and personal fees from Technofage, Dr. Amrein reports grants, personal fees and other from Fresenius Kabi, personal fees from Vifor Pharma, personal fees from Shire now part of Takeda, outside the submitted work, Dr. Derde reports grants from European Union, grants from ZonMw, outside the submitted work, Guy Francoishas nothing to disclose, Dr. Bassetti reports grants and personal fees from Pfizer, grants and personal fees from MSD, grants and personal fees from Menarini, grants and personal fees from Angelini, personal fees from Astellas, personal fees from Nabriva, grants and personal fees from Paratek, personal fees from Gilead, personal fees from Basilea, personal fees from Cidara, personal fees from Molteni, outside the submitted work; Dr. Ssi Yan Kai has nothing to disclose, Dr. De Waelereports grants from Research Foundation Flanders, during the conduct of the study; other from Bayer, other from Pfizer, other from MSD, other from Grifols, other from Accelerate, outside the submitted work;.

Figures

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Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PPE used for routine care and intubation. PPE used by HCWs for routine care (black bars), and if anything, what additional PPE is used for intubation of COVID-19 patients in an ICU.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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