Training with ultraviolet light improves safe PPE use

An experiment using a nontoxic fluorescent solution allowed participants to see how properly donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) can effectively prevent contact with infectious agents. Health care workers fully garbed in PPE were asked to care for a simulated patient sprayed with an invisible fluorescent solution. The researchers also added the solution to a simulated nebulizer treatment. After the team removed the PPE, they were examined under ultraviolet light, revealing traces of the fluorescent solution on the faces or forearms of some study participants. In contrast, those who put on and took off their PPE according to guidelines had no signs of the fluorescent contagion on their skin or face. Writing in the journal Medical Education, the researchers concluded, “By providing health care staff with visual evidence of protection during patient encounters with high risk aerosol-generating procedures, this innovative training method is helping to inspire trust in their training and PPE.” This low cost training can be implemented in any hospital, they added. (Newswise news release, 5/6/20)