Thread by @SewFaceMasks

#GETUSPPE reflection:

astho.org/Preparedness/R… from 2014(!):

"This study suggests that most acute care hospitals in the US do not have robust supplies of respiratory PPE to use in the event of an influenza pandemic, and 56% did not own an emergency cache of these supplies".

From 2018(!) healthcarefacilitiestoday.com/posts/Healthca… Healthcare worker protection: The key to pandemic containment.

"Global forces are converging to create the conditions, on a scale unique in history, for a major respiratory pandemic" (->)

Continued: "In recent years, airborne diseases like influenza, TB and measles have presented as global threats. The emerging diseases (Ebola, MERS, H1N1 and SARS) with significantly higher infection rates and mortality rates, have triggered a review of role of healthcare PPE".

2015(!): reliasmedia.com/blogs/2-hicpre… "More than a year out from emergence of Ebola, many infection preventionists report they received no additional resources to deal w/crisis, still lack adequate supplies of PPE, and remain uncertain.. frequently hcw's need to be trained..don/doff"

Interesting what was known - in 2010 😎

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20958…

In 2009, California became the first state to issue a standard requiring employers to protect healthcare personnel from influenza and other viral respiratory diseases in its aerosol-transmissible diseases standard

"This standard uses CDC terminology to classify whether aerosol-transmissible disease requires droplet precautions (face masks permitted) or aerosol precautions (respiratorors -N95s at a minimum, or PAPR).

For novel or unknown pathogens..default protection level at AIRBORNE/N95"

Observation: disaster preparedness would benefit from a civilian standard for PPE in all sizes, and we should maintain the inventory of both health care and consumer PPE. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

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