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The use of personal protective equipment during the COVID‐19 pandemic in a tertiary pediatric hospital
Author(s) -
Dibbs Rami P.,
Ferry Andrew M.,
Enochs Joyce,
Ward Amanda,
Glover Chris D.,
Archer Nakeisha,
Taylor Kimberly D.,
AlmaguerBravo Judy,
Hollier Larry H.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of healthcare risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 2040-0861
pISSN - 1074-4797
DOI - 10.1002/jhrm.21460
Subject(s) - personal protective equipment , medicine , pandemic , perioperative , covid-19 , medical emergency , health care , infection control , intensive care medicine , disease , surgery , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , economic growth
The provision of health care in the perioperative setting has undergone significant changes due to severe respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). Hospital facilities have been tasked with developing and implementing personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols to protect both medical providers and patients. Texas Children's Hospital has created a set of protocols for donning and doffing PPE while managing surgical pediatric patients. These requirements have undergone numerous modifications as a result of our internal infrastructural recommendations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which has led to more lenient regulations. While these perioperative PPE protocols were less stringent compared to the original guidelines, we were able to create a safe surgical environment without further exposing patients and health care providers to SARS‐CoV‐2. In this article, we detail the design, distribution, implementation, and modification of our institutional surgical PPE protocols.