Video demonstrates how to use protective gear when treating Ebola

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Friday, October 17, 2014
(UNMC HEROES / YouTube)
UNMC HEROES / YouTube-KABC

Hospitals across the nation are scrambling to be prepared for anyone who might have Ebola.

Eighty-five percent of 1,900 nurses recently surveyed by National Nurses United claim they didn't have the proper training to deal with Ebola patients. Many of them also said they weren't sure which equipment they needed to wear in order to protect themselves.

Enter the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit at The Nebraska Medical Center. It has created a step-by-step instruction guide for safely putting on and taking off the personal protective equipment needed when dealing with Ebola patients. The guide follows the CDC's more lengthy instructions.

Click/tap here to see a video guide for donning biohazard equipment.

Click/tap here for a printable checklist.

Once all the quipment is gathered, the medical professional then must follow a specific process to both taking on and taking off the protective gear. The steps outlined by UNMC for donning equipment are as follows:

  • Surgical gown
  • Surgical cap/hair cover
  • Face shield
  • Standard patient gloves
  • Large fluid repellent fabric or plastic drape
  • Surgical boot covers
  • N95 respirator
  • Long cuff kc500 purple nitrile gloves
  • Duct tape
  • Apron
UNMC HEROS / YouTube

The medical professional then must follow a specific process to putting on the required equipment to ensure they are not contaminated. The steps for putting on equipment are as follows:

  1. Perform hand hygiene.
  2. Apply scrubs and plastic washable footwear (such as Crocs).
  3. Remove all jewelry.
  4. Take and record vital signs.
  5. Hydrate.
  6. Apply boot covers, surgical cap, and surgical gown. All ties should be properly secured with a SIMPLE BOW.
  7. Ensure all fit well and cover the intended areas.
  8. Perform hand hygiene.
  9. Apply N95 respirator.
  10. Seal mask to the face ensuring straps are not crossed and properly located at the crown of the head and base of the neck.
  11. Perform a fit check of the respirator, breathing deeply in and out, feeling with your hands for any air leakage.
  12. Apply face shield (over surgical cap and N95 straps).
  13. Perform hand hygiene.
  14. Apply standard patient care gloves.
  15. Bring cuffs of gown over the patient care glove cuff.
  16. Apply long cuff KC500 Purple Nitrile gloves over the standard patient care gloves. Make sure that the glove cuff covers the gown sleeve adequately to prevent exposure when providing patient care.

There is a second guide on removing the protective gear, which is considered the most dangerous part. After making contact with the patient, the suit may have body fluids on it that are contaminated with Ebola. It takes two people to take the equipment off.

Click/tap here to see a video guide for removing protective equipment.

Click/tap here for a printable checklist.

WABC's Jim Dolan found out first hand how easy it is to make a mistake during this final process. An Isolation and Hazardous Materials Expert at North Shore LIJ told Dolan its a procedure that takes a lot of practice to be done correctly. A lack of practice may be why two Dallas nurses are now infected with Ebola while treating a patient, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden suggested Sunday.

Tap/click here to view on the news app.

The guides were created through the University of Nebraska's HEROES program. You can learn more about it here.

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