Disinfection of reusable elastomeric respirators by health care workers: A feasibility study and development of standard operating procedures
Open accessAbstract
Background This was a feasibility study in a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be used by health care workers to disinfect reusable elastomeric respirators under pandemic conditions. Registered and licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, aides, clinical technicians, and physicians took part in the study. Methods Health care worker volunteers were provided with manufacturers' cleaning and disinfection instructions and all necessary supplies. They were observed and filmed. SOPs were developed, based on these observations, and tested on naïve volunteer health care workers. Error rates using manufacturers' instructions and SOPs were compared. Results When using respirator manufacturers' cleaning and disinfection instructions, without specific training or supervision, all subjects made multiple errors. When using the SOPs developed in the study, without specific training or guidance, naïve health care workers disinfected respirators with zero errors. Conclusion Reusable facial protective equipment may be disinfected by health care workers with minimal training using SOPs.
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Prior studies of elastomeric half-mask respirator disinfection have differed in the disinfectants, test organisms, disinfection procedures, and sampling methods they used.
“EHMR disinfection studies (3M Personal Safety Division, 2021; Bessesen et al., 2015; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; Subhash et al., 2014) have used different disinfectants, test microbes, disinfection protocols, and sampling methods.”
From Wipe Disinfection of Reusable Elastomeric Half-Mask Respirators for Health Care Use (2024) · cites this paper as Bessesen et al., 2015
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Rubio-Romero, J. C., Pardo-Ferreira, M. D. C., Torrecilla-García, J. A., & Calero-Castro, S. (2020) · Safety Science · doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104830 · Cited by 281 · see citing works
Wipe Disinfection of Reusable Elastomeric Half-Mask Respirators for Health Care Use
Erukunuakpor, K., Nielsen, K. E., Lane, M. A., Hornbeck, A., McClain, C., Fernando, R., Sietsema, M., Kraft, C. S., & Casanova, L. M. (2024) · Workplace Health & Safety · doi:10.1177/21650799241273972 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bessesen, M. T., Adams, J. C., Radonovich, L., & Anderson, J.
- Affiliations
- VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (US)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bessesen, Mary T.
- Venue
- American Journal of Infection Control
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-06
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 629-634
- ISSN
- 0196-6553 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2087968609
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Infection Control (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Medical Device Sterilization and Disinfection
- Keywords
- standard operating procedures, healthcare workers, manufacturer instructions, pandemic preparedness, infection control training
- MeSH terms
- Disinfection, Equipment Contamination, Feasibility Studies, Health Personnel, Humans, Reference Standards, Respiratory Protective Devices, Task Performance and Analysis, United States, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Equipment Reuse, Medical Errors, Elastomers
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