Patricia E.Ferguson1, Mary Wyer1, Jaimie Henry1, Kathy Dempsey2, Susan Jain2, Nicole Tolhurst2
1New South Wales (NSW) Biocontainment Centre
2Clinical Excellence Commission
Abstract:
In this workshop clinicians from the New South Biocontainment Centre (NBC) at Westmead Hospital, and the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), will lead a practical workshop demonstrating the critical aspects of the safe use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the management of patients with suspected or confirmed high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) (e.g. Ebola virus disease or MERS).
The scope of the course is to provide an understanding of how PPE is donned and doffed in the NBC to protect staff dealing with HCIDs and prevent transmission of the disease. It will also cover how HCID PPE is being rolled out, as part of preparedness,by the CEC, across NSW, to frontline workers in NSW Health hospitals.
Participants will:
- be guided through donning HCID PPE
- perform several activities, while wearing PPE, to experience dexterity, heat and communication challenges.
- be guided through doffing of PPE, utilising clean and contaminated zones.
At the end of the session, it is expected that participants will comprehend the basic principles of donning and doffing for infection prevention and control in outbreak response for HCID. We will also discuss issues of waste and sustainability.