Medical Dress Options: AAMI Standard Applies to More PPE Dresses Learn How
learn how to pick the right protective clothing and help prevent HAIs.
personal protective equipment (PPE) is an important component of a facility's overall infection prevention strategy. You wear PPE, such as a robe, to protect yourself, patients, residents and visitors from pathogenic bacteria. Over the years, AAMI has rated surgical and isolation dresses based on four levels of fluid protection. These ratings help you choose the right dress grade for a particular task or situation based on the risk of exposure to potentially infectious liquids or solids.
As you know, they are not the only medical protective clothing used for protection in medical institutions. That's why AAMI has updated ANSI/AAMI PB70, which establishes barrier performance requirements, classification systems, and related labeling requirements for healthcare protective clothing.
So what does this mean?
Once the standard update is implemented, the barrier protection of non-surgical and non-isolating medical gowns (such as decontamination gowns and procedural gowns) can be rated. In addition, all dresses and their packaging need to be marked according to their type and grade, as well as their expiration date. 2
"aims to set more structure and definition around protection levels," said Mark Chua, vice president of preventive health care at Medline. "With more dress options defined and differentiated, healthcare professionals can make more informed choices.
let's take a look at the barrier protection levels and how they will help employees wear their dresses appropriately.
know 4 levels of fluid protection
Level 1-Minimal exposure:
Level 2-Low Exposure Risk:
Level 3-Medium Exposure Risk:used, for example, in arterial blood withdrawal, insertion of intravenous (IV) lines, in emergency rooms, decontamination/aseptic processing departments or for trauma cases
Level 4-High Risk of Exposure:, for example, in long-term, fluid-intensive surgery, surgery, when pathogen resistance is required or non-airborne infectious diseases are suspected 3.
when you decide on the level of dress you need for a given task, think about what kind of contact you will have with the patient or resident. Are you changing diapers? Helping with the toilet? Helping with oral care? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has flagged the three main ways that infectious microorganisms in blood and fluids spread:
- Contact(direct and indirect)-the most common in general. Direct contact transmission occurs when microbes are transferred directly from one person to another. Indirect contact transmission occurs when there is no direct person-to-person contact. An infectious agent is transferred from a reservoir, such as an object, to a person.
- Droplets-respiratory droplets produced by coughing, sneezing or talking
- Airborne-Evaporative respiratory droplets that remain in the air 4
direct contact can occur through broken skin or mucous membranes located in areas such as the eyes, nose, or mouth. In addition to blood, other bodily fluids may include, but are not limited to, urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomiting, breast milk, and semen.
identify key areas and categories of dresses
protective clothing? These are the areas where direct contact with blood, body fluids and other potentially infectious substances is most likely to occur. 2
, the PB70 update not only provides a level of protection for some dresses that are currently unrated, such as decontamination and procedures. It also adds a new category of protective clothing, as shown below, and identifies its key areas:
Full Covering Dress
- provides protection against exposure to the front and back of the wearer
- There is an overlap on the back, so when wearing a properly sized dress, there are no gaps on the back, and there are no gaps, perforations or holes in any part of the dress. 2
non-protective back gown
- does not require a protective barrier to avoid exposure to the back
- contains slits, perforations, or holes, or the backsheet does not meet at least the requirements for Class 1 barrier performance. A non-protective back robe should be used only if you do not want your back to be exposed to risk. 2
Backless Gown
- is not expected to be exposed on the back
- Uncovered part of the back 2
These categories will be included on the product and packaging labels to help you choose the dress that suits your needs based on the protection area you need. For example, the dress will be labeled "AAMI Level 3 Full Coverage Decontamination Dress". The update will not take effect until the manufacturer conducts the necessary barrier protection tests and then starts manufacturing the gowns with the label.
key takeaway
there are many types of medical dresses you wear in a medical facility, not all of them are rated according to the AAMI protection rating. AAMI has updated ANSI/AAMI PB70 to evaluate additional protective clothing. It is very important to understand the four levels of barrier protection so that you can choose the right dress according to the risk of each exposure.
