Are you always wearing your PPE?
It's another day, another run, another short of breath patient. You get on scene and your 75 year old male patient is complaining of shortness of breath. You start your assessment. During the assessment you notice your patient has a productive wet cough. Do you put on your mask, your gloves are already on right?
Most ambulances carry HEPA mask. These are designed to filter out small airborne particles to protect you. What the heck does HEPA stand for? It stands for 'High Absorbing Particle Absorbing'. These do a great job of filtering out the nasty things from the air, before they can enter your system. It is reported that they can filter out 99% of airborne particles. The problem is, we rarely use them. They are cumbersome, hot, and heck we have been on a ton of 'short of breath calls' why should I put it on now? In today's world with epidemics breaking out in other parts of the world, you can never tell where your patient has been or who they have been in contact with. Just assuming that you will be fine because "nothing has happened yet" is a poor excuse for not properly using your PPE. We should be wearing some type of respiratory protection anytime a patient has a wet productive cough, especially if they are feverish.
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