Breathability and Safety Testing of Personal Protective Equipment: “Human-comfort” Factor Remains Undefined

JOURNAL TITLE: Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine

Author
1. Narayan Prasad
2. Arvind Kumar Baronia
3. Gaurav Agarwal
4. Vivek Anand Saraswat
5. Aditya Kapoor
ISSN
0972-5229
DOI
10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23598
Volume
25
Issue
1
Publishing Year
2021
Pages
4
Author Affiliations
    1. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    2. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    3. Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    4. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP, India
    5. SGPGIMS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    6. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate, Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    1. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    1. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    2. Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, 119-C, Pocket- I, Dilshad Garden, Delhi
    3. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    4. Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Barasat, West Bengal, India
    5. CARE Hospitals, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
    6. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    1. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow (UP)
    2. Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
    1. Department of Gastromedicine, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
  • Article keywords

    Abstract

    Healthcare systems all over the world have been enormously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) taking care of these patients need personal protective equipments (PPEs) standardized for full protection from droplets and aerosols carrying viral load to variable distances. There has been a surge of manufacturers supplying these protective gears in India and regulatory agencies have issued technical specifications pertaining to PPEs focusing solely on synthetic blood penetration tests (SBPTs) and keeping the upper limit of non-woven fabric to 95 g/m2 (GSM). These PPE specifications are silent on air permeability (AP) and water/moisture vapor transmission rate (WVTR/MVTR) of the fabric. As a result, most of the PPE kits, despite having appropriate SBPT certifications from regulatory agencies, have extremely poor permeability and breathability. The acceptability of PPEs by HCWs can be vastly improved when the end-users are proactively invited to participate in “comfort testing” of PPEs before getting issuance of certification for marketing. “Field testing” or “end-user trials” in which HCWs don the PPE and assess it for comfort while performing different types of clinical work, e.g., in intensive care units (ICUs), operation theaters, cath labs, etc., also takes into account a hitherto often ignored “human-comfort-factor” that not only enhances the understanding of HCWs about the need for the PPEs but can also motivate them to use it without worrying about discomfort. We hereby propose that comfort fit testing (COmfort and Material Fit is an Obviously Required Test) should be a part of the mandatory testing and certification process for PPE, so that the industry invests wisely in manufacturing PPE kits that are not only certified for fabric but are also tested for comfort factors.

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