There is a lot of talk about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and its purpose. I sense that it is considered one way or the other: Protect me from you vs. Protect you from me. PPE use is a two way street, and it is useless if not used correctly.
In the earliest days of PPE it was really nothing more than about keeping clean. Wearing aprons, just like a baker or cook wore an apron to protect their fine clothes from flour and grease. Next we add in more layers, and we get a mixture of keeping our clothes clean, and we start to protect the other person from us. This was the addition of gloves and masks. Today, we are still trying to protect the other person, but the main driving force, and where the category labeled PPE is to protect me from you.
When talking Personal Protective Equipment it is all about protecting the wearer from the environment around them. PPE is also 10% having the proper gear, and 90% using it properly. If you are going to use PPE to protect yourself it is more important how you handle it before and after you use it, how you don and doff it is critical, how you act while wearing it can negate its use all together, and what you do with it (handle the waste) can be more dangerous than not wearing it at all.
Under the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Rule, those required to use PPE must take annual training. These are people that wear the gear daily. When you offer this training it is amazing to see the bad habits and how hard it is to correct them with annual training. Then, I watch people that think it is just about slapping the stuff on, and they will be safe.
My professional opinion of PPE during this time:
Facemasks - Use them, but learn how to use them correctly. Also, they are one time use, so put one on as you exit your car at the store or office, take it off before you get back in your car. Next stop, repeat. If you are using disposable, but them into a plastic bag for safe disposal. If you are wearing cloth/reusable, place them in a plastic bag, and wash in hot water with disinfecting detergent and/or bleach before next use.
Gloves - The way nearly everyone is using them, quit wasting your money. You are actually in more danger the way you are using them then if you leave them off - Even if you aren't using sanitizer or washing.
Clothing - I treat the outside world like I used to treat the funeral home prep room. If I must go to the store or dr's office, when I come home, the clothes I am wearing come off and are either placed directly into the washing machine or are left in a dedicated basket in the garage - They are not worn in and around the house.
Handwashing - I am fortunate to have a laundry room two steps in from the garage door, and I have a bathroom just a few steps the other direction from the door. When entering the house, clothes off and before clean clothes are put on, all skin that was exposed during the excursion is washed.
Keep in mind that everything you expose to the outside world is being carried, and if you don't change clothes and wash up, you are just transferring everything that you were exposed to in the store or office you visited to your home and family.
This may seem like overkill. I have not formed a full opinion on how much we are being played for suckers in this whole mess. However, my wife is considered severely at risk due to preexisting conditions, so I am going to error on the side of caution. I have a friend who is a physician, and he minored in statististic (too many esses and tees to get that word correct) analysis. He tracks the real numbers through the medical field, not the crap we see, and he is pushing the safety side.
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