Lots of people on Shelter Island write to tell us they’re making masks and other Personal Protective Equipment, and this is great news. Some are donating it to health care workers, first responders or food service workers; others are making it for family and friends. If you’re looking for guidance on how to do that, patterns and DIY videos abound on the internet.
If you’re making PPE for your own protection, here’s important CDC guidance for using it correctly.
Putting on PPE
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises this sequence for putting on PPE:
- Gown
- Fully cover torso from neck to knees, arms to end of wrists, and wrap around the back
- Fasten in back of the neck and waist
- Mask or respirator
- Secure ties or elastic bands at the middle of head and neck
- Fit flexible band to nose bridge
- Fit snug to face and below chin
- Fit-check respirator
- Goggles or face shield
- Place over face and adjust to fit
- Gloves
- Extend to cover wrists of gown
Safely removing PPE
- Gloves
- Outside of gloves are contaminated!
- If your hands get contaminated during glove removal, immediately wash your hands or use an alcohol-based sanitizer
- Using one gloved hand, grasp the palm area of the other gloved hand and peel off the glove
- Do not let go of the removed glove
- Slide a finger of the ungloved hand under the remaining glove at the wire and peel the second glove off over the first glove
- Discard them in a wast container
- Goggles or face sheild
- Outside of goggles or face shield is contaminated!
- If your hands get contaminated during removal, immediately wash your hands or use an alcohol-based sanitizer
- Lift googles or face shield from the back using head band or ear pieces
- If the item is reusable, place in designed receptacle for cleaning; otherwise, discard in waste container
- Gown
- Gown front and sleeves are contaminated
- If your hands get contaminated during removal, immediately wash your hands or use an alcohol-based sanitizer
- Unfasten gown ties, taking care that sleeves don’t contact your body when reaching for ties
- Pull gown away from neck and shoulders, touching inside of gown only
- Turn gown inside out
- Fold or roll into a bundle
- If the item is reusable, place in designed receptacle for cleaning; otherwise, discard in waste container
- Mask or respirator
- Front of mask/respirator is contaminated – DO NOT TOUCH!
- If your hands get contaminated during removal, immediately wash your hands or use an alcohol-based sanitizer
- Grasp ties or elastic to remove mask/respirator from face
- If the item is reusable, place in designed receptacle for cleaning; otherwise, discard in waste container
