Reusable Elastomeric Respirators In Health Care

Protecting the health and safety of health care workers is vital to the health of each of us. Preparing for and responding to a future influenza pandemic or to a sustained outbreak of an airborne transmissible disease requires a high-level commitment to respiratory protection for health care workers across the wide range of settings in which they work and the jobs that they perform. Keeping health care workers healthy is an ethical commitment both in terms of addressing the occupational risks faced by health care workers and of providing for the continuity of patient care and services needed to maintain the health of individuals and communities. During a public health emergency, challenges will arise concerning the availability of respiratory protective devices (i.e., respirators). Reusable respirators (specifically, reusable half-facepiece elastomeric respirators) are the standard respiratory protection device used in many industries, and they provide an option for use in health care that has to date not been fully explored. The durability and reusability of elastomeric respirators make them desirable for stockpiling for emergencies, where the need for large volumes of respirators can be anticipated. However, they are used infrequently in health care. Reusable Elastomeric Respirators in Health Care explores the potential for the use of elastomeric respirators in the U.S. health care system with a focus on the economic, policy, and implementation challenges and opportunities. This report examines the practicability of elastomeric use in health care on a routine basis and during an influenza pandemic or other large aerosol-transmissible outbreak, when demand for respiratory protective devices by U.S. health care personnel may be larger than domestic supplies. The report also addresses the issues regarding emergency stockpile management of elastomeric respiratory protective devices.

Protecting the health and safety of health care workers is vital to the health of each of us. Preparing for and responding to a future influenza pandemic or to a sustained outbreak of an airborne transmissible disease requires a high-level commitment to respiratory protection for health care workers across the wide range of settings in which they work and the jobs that they perform. Keeping health care workers healthy is an ethical commitment both in terms of addressing the occupational risks faced by health care workers and of providing for the continuity of patient care and services needed to maintain the health of individuals and communities. During a public health emergency, challenges will arise concerning the availability of respiratory protective devices (i.e., respirators). Reusable respirators (specifically, reusable half-facepiece elastomeric respirators) are the standard respiratory protection device used in many industries, and they provide an option for use in health care that has to date not been fully explored. The durability and reusability of elastomeric respirators make them desirable for stockpiling for emergencies, where the need for large volumes of respirators can be anticipated. However, they are used infrequently in health care. Reusable Elastomeric Respirators in Health Care explores the potential for the use of elastomeric respirators in the U.S. health care system with a focus on the economic, policy, and implementation challenges and opportunities. This report examines the practicability of elastomeric use in health care on a routine basis and during an influenza pandemic or other large aerosol-transmissible outbreak, when demand for respiratory protective devices by U.S. health care personnel may be larger than domestic supplies. The report also addresses the issues regarding emergency stockpile management of elastomeric respiratory protective devices.

Any strategy to cope with an influenza pandemic must be based on the knowledge and tools that are available at the time an epidemic may occur. In the near term, when we lack an adequate supply of vaccine and antiviral medication, strategies that rely on social distancing and physical barriers will be relatively more prominent as means to prevent spread of disease. The use of respirators and facemasks is one key part of a larger strategy to establish barriers and increase distance between infected and uninfected individuals. Respirators and facemasks may have a role in both clinical care and community settings. Reusability of Facemasks During an Influenza Pandemic: Facing the Flu answers a specific question about the role of respirators and facemasks to reduce the spread of flu: Can respirators and facemasks that are designed to be disposable be reused safely and effectively? The committee-assisted by outstanding staff-worked intensively to review the pertinent literature; consult with manufacturers, researchers, and medical specialists; and apply their expert judgment. This report offers findings and recommendations based on the evidence, pointing to actions that are appropriate now and to lines of research that can better inform future decisions.

To address approaches to the respirator approval process in the current landscape for both occupational and non-occupational use of respirators, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Standing Committee on Personal Protective Equipment for Workplace Safety and Health convened a virtual workshop, Current Issues in the Assessment of Respiratory Protective Devices: Nontraditional Workers and Public Use on August 4â€"5, 2020. Additionally, the workshop considered gaps in respiratory protection for outdoor workers and the general public. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) share responsibility for overseeing respiratory protection in the workplace and have established regulations for this purpose. Specifically, NIOSH has issued regulations which define respirator testing and certification. OSHA has issued regulations which define conditions under which employers are required to maintain respiratory protection programs in general industry, shipyards, marine terminals, and construction. In 2005, NIOSH contracted with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the NIOSH-sponsored Anthrotech study along with its supporting information and reports, and to examine and report on the adequacy and relevance of the study protocol, the analyses conducted, the resulting anthropometric dataset, and the appropriateness of the respirator fit-test panels derived from the new dataset. Assessment of the NIOSH Head-and-Face Anthropometric Survey of U.S. Respirator Users focuses on the establishment of the scientific base required for certification standards of respirators, not their use in the workplace. This report describes and analyzes the anthropometric measurements performed by Anthrotech for its NIOSH-sponsored study. This report looks at the survey methods used by Anthrotech in the study, and examines how Anthrotech analyzed its data to derive fit-test panels and suggests some ways that analysis could be improved. This report discusses future directions, pointing toward further analyses of the data and offers suggestions for moving from research to practice.

Before effective treatments were introduced in the 1950s, tuberculosis was a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Health care workers were at particular risk. Although the occupational risk of tuberculosis has been declining in recent years, this new book from the Institute of Medicine concludes that vigilance in tuberculosis control is still needed in workplaces and communities. Tuberculosis in the Workplace reviews evidence about the effectiveness of control measuresâ€"such as those recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionâ€"intended to prevent transmission of tuberculosis in health care and other workplaces. It discusses whether proposed regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would likely increase or sustain compliance with effective control measures and would allow adequate flexibility to adapt measures to the degree of risk facing workers.

This fourth edition provides guidance on why respiratory protective equipment (RPE) should be used, what the law says and how to select RPE that is adequate and suitable. It also includes a useful dos and don'ts list for the management and supervision of RPE use.The guidance is aimed principally at employers and the self-employed who wear, or are responsible for workers who wear, RPE. It will also be useful for health and safety specialists, manufacturers and suppliers of RPE.It has been prepared in consultation with industry and updates the 2005 edition

This book reviews evolving areas in infection prevention on topics including contact precautions, technology implementation, specific infections, and care in various settings. The book summarizes the current data oninfection prevention, presents controversies on the various topics, and includes recommendations for patient safety. Addressing hot topics such as MRSA, C. difficile vaccination, mandatory flu vaccines, and CLABSI, this is the only text to include prevention and control overviews across a range of infection issues. Written by experts in thefield, this book contains 32 chapters that educates and presents the most cutting-edge models of care on emerging and evolving topics in infectious diseases. Infection Prevention: New Perspectives and Controversies is a valuable resource for infection prevention professionals, healthcare quality and safety professionals, caring for patients in in- and outpatient settings.