Practical Solutions for Healthcare Worker Protection During the COVID-19 Pandemic Response in the Ambulatory, Emergency, and Inpatient Settings

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 62; no. 11; p. e616
• Main Authors: Kraus, Anthony, Awoniyi, Oluwafunbi, AlMalki, Yousef, Bardeesi, Adham Sameer A, Edwards, Bridget, AlHajjaj, Fahad, Alossaimi, Bader, Benham, Todd, Bortolin, Michalengelo, Cattamanchi, Srihari, Court, Michael, Groves, John, Hernandez, Anthony, Issa, Fadi, Macgregor-Skinner, Gavin, Manners, Philip, Molloy, Michael, Romney, Douglas, Voskanyan, Amalia, Weiner, Debra, Yogman, Madeline, Hart, Alexander, Ciottone, Gregory
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Ambulatory Care Facilities; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - transmission; COVID-19; Emergency Service, Hospital; Humans; Infection Control - organization & administration; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional - prevention & control; Pandemics - prevention & control; Personal Protective Equipment; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - transmission; SARS-CoV-2
• ISSN: 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002008

Protecting healthcare workers is an essential component of a successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resource intensive nature of infectious disease protection, budgetary constraints, and global shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) make this a daunting task. Practical, easily implemented strategies for healthcare workers (HCW) protection are needed. We cross-reference the "Systems, Space, Staff, and Stuff" paradigm from disaster management and the "Hierarchy of Controls" approach to infection prevention from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to generate a narrative overview of worker protection strategies relevant to COVID-19. Alternative types of PPE, management of hazards, and reorganizing how people work can optimize HCWs protection. A comprehensive PPE strategy can utilize the "systems, space, staff, stuff" paradigm of disaster management to identify new or underutilized solutions to HCWs protection.