Since Philippine General Hospital started operating as a #COVID19PH national referral center last month, I’ve been tasked to monitor and allocate PPEs for the entire hospital. Here’s a thread on how we rationalize PPE use without compromising safety: (1/7) 
Early on, our Infection Control Unit established clear guidelines that say who requires what level of protection at which location. We have infographics all over PGH for this, and areas in the hospital are marked red, orange, or green zones. (2/7)
What is adequate PPE? Having seen photos worldwide, I’d say it varies depending on hospital and available resources. The L image shows PGH PPE recommendation in high risk areas, and the R image, the algorithm formulated by @psmidorg 👉🏼 psmid.org/unified-covid-… (3/7)
How many PPEs are needed? PGH issues PPEs per area/unit, and we allocate at least 2x the number of staff for 24 hrs. In general, health workers require 2 sets for an 8-hour shift, esp if coveralls. This allows them to drink/snack in designated rest zones midway thru shift. (4/7)
Designate a person who will respond to PPE requests. This is what I do. If a unit requests N95 masks when medical masks would suffice, I explain why. Everybody’s afraid, but we can’t operate on fear. PPE = finite resource. When in doubt, always consult ID (Hello Dra Berba!) (5/7)
In COVID wards + ICUs, safety officers are present to supervise donning and doffing. They also track PPE usage in each unit. Initially manual, but we now use a Google form that can be accessed on mobile phones. This helps us adjust our daily allocation as needed. (6/7)
These are simple measures, but we feel that these have helped us conserve our PPEs. PGH is lucky to have support from public and private sectors, but we don’t know how long this pandemic will last. Please continue donating PPEs esp to your local hospitals! Ingat! #COVID19PH (7/7)
@threadreaderapp Unroll please. Thanks!
