Impact of Personal Protective Equipment on the Performance of Emergency Pediatric Tasks

Pediatric Emergency Care December 2021

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Adler MD, Krug S, Eiger C, Good GL, Kou M, Nash M, Henretig FM, Hornik CP, Gosnell L, Chen JY, Debski J, Sharma G, Siegel D, Donoghue A
This study evaluated the impacts of personal protective equipment (PPE) on timeliness or success of emergency procedures performed by pediatric health care providers (HCPs). For session 1, HCPs wore normal attire; for session 2, they wore full-shroud PPE garb with 2 glove types: Ebola level or chemical. During each session, they performed clinical tasks on a patient simulator: intubation, bag-valve mask ventilation, venous catheter (IV) placement, push-pull fluid bolus, and defibrillation. Personal protective equipment did not affect procedure timeliness or success on a simulated child, with the exception of IV placement. Further study is needed to investigate PPE’s impact on procedures performed in a clinical care context.