The Importance of Personal Protective Equipment Design and Donning and Doffing Technique in Mitigating Infectious Disease Spread: A Technical Report.

During the current coronavirus pandemic, significant emphasis has been placed on the importance of mitigating nosocomial spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). One important consideration involves the appropriate use of effective personal protective equipment (PPE), which may reduce a healthcare provider's likelihood of becoming infected while simultaneously minimizing exposure to other patients that they care for. This may reduce demands placed on the healthcare system and help to preserve the workforce. First, the importance of PPE design cannot be underestimated, as the manufacturing process must strive to maximize protection of the user while ensuring adequate comfort. Second, it has been demonstrated that inadequate education and training can significantly impact compliance with PPE recommendations. Technique regarding donning and doffing of PPE is crucial to the protection of those who don it. The purpose of this technical report is two-fold: first, to describe some important considerations in the manufacturing and design process of face shields to maximize protection for healthcare providers, and second, to describe a simulation scenario that may be used to train healthcare workers in the appropriate donning and doffing of PPE.

Automated Inflating Resuscitator (AIR): Design and Development of a 3D-Printed Ventilator Prototype and Corresponding Simulation Scenario Based on the Management of a Critical COVID-19 Patient.

Recent surges in COVID-19 cases have generated an urgent global demand for ventilators. This demand has led to the development of numerous low-cost ventilation devices, but there has been less emphasis on training health professionals to use these new devices safely. The aim of this technical report is twofold: first, to describe the design and manufacturing process of the automated inflating resuscitator (AIR), a 3D-printed ventilator training device which operates on the principle of pushing a bag valve mask; second, to present a simulation scenario that can be used for training health professionals how to use this and similar, low-cost, 3D-printed ventilators in the context of ventilator shortages caused by COVID-19. To this end, the AIR was designed in an expedient manner in accordance with basic functionality established by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom) for provisional clinical use in light of COVID-19.