PPE for Ebola: This is how Emory does it

Remember how I said my lab wanted to do a PPE response video to Sanjay Guptas terrifying attempt? But we couldnt for liability reasons?

Now there is an even better option! We can all take a peek into how Ebola patients are treated at Emory University, and get to see their protocols for putting on/taking off PPE:

Emory Healthcare launches Ebola protocols website as resource on prevention and patient care

But before you can see their videos, you have to 1) register, and 2) agree not to hold Emory University responsible if you get infected with Ebola.

The information provided on this site, including links to relevant websites and the information contained therein, is for general informational purposes only. The information and materials provided on this site are intended to assist hospitals and health care providers in preparing for the care of patients diagnosed with or suspected of having the Ebola virus in their facilities. The information and materials provided on this site are not to be used as a substitute for or to supplement any independent professional evaluation or professional medical judgment in the care for patients diagnosed with or suspected of having the Ebola virus.

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I personally think it is well worth the 10 seconds to register to see exactly how they are doing things in the Emory isolation ward. These are the people who have trained for years to care for people with 'scary' diseases, including Ebola. This is how professionals do it, not random physicians with a camera crew.

After you register, in the left-hand column, click 'Videos', then 'Donning Personal Protective Equipment' and 'Doffing Personal Protective Equipment'.

They take many more precautions than we do in a BSL-3 (as well as they should), but youll see echoes of what I described, plus you can see the weird-twisty-motion-off glove thing I was talking about :-D

You will also fully understand how absurd Guptas video was.

 

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As someone who is not at all familiar with medical protocols like this, I just watched Gupta's video and then the Emory videos. Even to a layperson, Gupta looks like a spastic idiot -- I would not let this guy near me as a patient.

What worries me is that Gupta says that he was following CDC protocol. Is the protocol written in such a way that if you are an idiot, you will act like this? My understanding was that the CDC protocols were very thorough and clear; from watching these two videos there is no connection between what Sanjay Gupta was doing and what the Emory Healthcare professionals were doing. Are the Emory videos following CDC protocol, or following a more thorough protocol of their own?

Hi Caede!

What they did in that video is above and beyond what I personally do for a BSL-3 facility, and, I seriously doubt there are many hospitals with *that* gear, *those* facilities, and *that* kind of training.

The reality of what hospitals can do in an emergency situation is probably more like what we do in BSL-3 facilities, which has thus far been fairly standard in the three institutions I have worked at. I really cant imagine research scientists all do the same thing, but then the CDC tells physicians to do something radically different.

I have no clue where Gupta got the idea to do that stupid routine.

I thought licking the chocolate sauce off his fingers was...[puts on sunglasses]...in poor taste.

Maybe I should make my co-workers watch this and threaten them with having to go through all that if they don't start wearing their $^^#%^%^ gloves in the lab. (And stop touching their faces with their gloves!) Nothing we work with is specifically "hot", but it is blood from humans, so it is assumed to be pretty nasty.

By JustaTech (not verified) on 27 Oct 2014 #permalink

Do personal protective equipment have a coating which changes color when in contact with bodily fluids? This benefits practice sessions and actual situations. Knowing the location on the PPEs alerts one prior to removal. A healthcare worker may have to exit the environment earlier due to increase likelihood of fluid contact.

By Glenwrick Elliott (not verified) on 31 Oct 2014 #permalink