Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Inside Infection Control, our video blog here at CDC's Project Firstline.
I am Abby Carlson. It's wonderful to have you back!
Today we are going to talk about a straightforward but very important question.
What is PPE?
We use it. We talk about it all the time.
We worry about it.
We worry whether we have enough and what kinds we should use.
But what do we mean by PPE? What is this?
PPE is the abbreviation for personal protective equipment.
It's the gear that you use to protect yourself and keep yourself from getting exposed
to something that could make you sick while you're at work.
Many jobs actually have PPE. It's not just in health care that we have this.
One great example is a firefighter.
They use equipment to protect them from the hazards at their job.
A helmet to protect them from things falling down on their head.
They might use gloves, boots and a uniform or pants and coat to protect them from heat.
They might protect themselves from smoke with a mask.
All of that is personal protective equipment, or PPE.
In health care PPE, we use PPE to protect us from things in the environment.
And our most common problem: germs.
So the unique thing about PPE and health care is that it actually serves two purposes,
and both of those purposes are really important.
One part is to protect you, but the other part is to protect your patients and coworkers
from germs that you might be carrying.
So, for example, when you use a mask, you're not just protecting your nose and mouth
from things that you might breathe in or germs that might be, you know, in the air
that could make you sick.
You're also keeping out germs that you could be breathing out
from reaching other people or reaching the environment.
Another great example is when you use a gown and gloves.
You're not just keeping germs off of your hands and your clothes and keeping yourself clean.
You're also keeping any germs that you've gotten on your clothes, on your hands,
from spreading to other people, other surfaces, and spreading around health care as you do your work.
You can see from all of that why it's so important to use your PPE and use it right.
But even though it's really important, we have to remember it's not magic.
It's not the only thing you do.
In fact, it's one of many tools that we use to protect you in your daily work
to avoid being exposed to germs.
So we use other things like barriers, telemedicine, improving ventilation,
good cleaning and good disinfection practices.
But when those things aren't going to be enough
and you have to interact with your patient to provide good care
and there's risk of spreading germs,
you want PPE to reduce that risk both for you and your patient,
so that it doesn't spread between the two of you.
Also remember, we like to say, "PPE doesn't have a brain."
It doesn't have a mind of its own.
It relies on you, your brain, your mind, to think about how to use it and use it correctly.
So think through using your gear, what you're using, how you're using it, is it the right time?
And you have to go through that process every time to just be sure that you're protected,
you're protecting your patient, as you're about to go do your work.
We'll talk more in future episodes about the different pieces of PPE,
how and why they work to keep you safe,
and what you need to know to take care of your patients as best as you can.
In the meantime, thank you for joining us, as always.
Please be sure to follow up with us on Facebook or on Twitter,
and check us out, our website is CDC.gov/ProjectFirstline
We will see you back here in the next episode.