Multicenter investigation of current status of use of personal protective equipment among healthcare workers during diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the room where confirmed COVID-19 patients are admitted and understand the current status of prevention. METHODS: The healthcare workers who from medical aid teams in Hubei in 30 hospitals were randomly selected by the trained staff for hospital infection prevention, the basic characteristics of the enrolled subjects and the use of PPE were recorded, and the questionnaires were filled out through questionnaire star. RESULTS: The survey found that all the healthcare workers received theoretical training and practical training on the use of PPE before entering the isolation ward, 95.56% (2 433) of them were inspected or supervised by someone when they put on or took off PPE. 86.57% (2 204) of the healthcare workers wore two layers of masks at the same time, most of whom (1621, 63.67%) wore medical surgical mask and respirator at the same time. 57.50% (1 464) of the healthcare workers used goggles or face shield, 42.50% (1 082) of whom used goggles and face shield at the same time. 95.25% (2 425) of the healthcare workers wore coverall and disposable gown at the same time. 96.62% (2 460) of the healthcare workers wore boot covers and shoe covers at the same time. The proportion of the healthcare workers who wore two-layer hats was the highest (70.54%), and the proportion of the healthcare workers who wore two-layer gloves was also the highest (57.31%). CONCLUSION The use of PPE of the HCWs who are from the medical aid teams has effectively prevented the COVID-19 infection, achieving a 'zero infection' among the 42.6 thousand HCWs. However, there are excessive use of PPE, and the rational use of PPE needs to be further standardized and explored.