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Comparing Training Techniques in Personal Protective Equipment Use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2020

Richard J. Salway Open the ORCID record for Richard J. Salway [Opens in a new window] ,
Trenika Williams Open the ORCID record for Trenika Williams [Opens in a new window] ,
Camilo Londono ,
Patricia Roblin ,
Kristi Koenig  and
Bonnie Arquilla
Richard J. Salway*
Affiliation:
New York Health and Hospitals, Office of Quality and Safety, New York, New York, USA Kings County Hospital Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
Trenika Williams
Affiliation:
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New HampshireUSA
Camilo Londono
Affiliation:
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
Patricia Roblin
Affiliation:
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
Kristi Koenig
Affiliation:
Center for Disaster Medical Sciences, University of California – Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, CaliforniaUSA
Bonnie Arquilla
Affiliation:
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New YorkUSA
*
Correspondence: Richard James (RJ) Salway 451 Clarkson Avenue Kings County Hospital Center Department of Emergency Medicine Brooklyn, New York11203USA E-mail: dr.salway@gmail.com
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Abstract

Introduction:

Physicians’ management of hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents requires personal protective equipment (PPE) utilization to ensure the safety of victims, facilities, and providers; therefore, providing effective and accessible training in its use is crucial. While an emphasis has been placed on the importance of PPE, there is debate about the most effective training methods. Circumstances may not allow for a traditional in-person demonstration; an accessible video training may provide a useful alternative.

Hypothesis:

Video training of Emergency Medicine (EM) residents in the donning and doffing of Level C PPE is more effective than in-person training.

Null Hypothesis:

Video training of EM residents in the donning and doffing of Level C PPE is equally effective compared with in-person training.

Methods:

A randomized, controlled pilot trial was performed with 20 EM residents as part of their annual Emergency Preparedness training. Residents were divided into four groups, with Group 1 and Group 2 viewing a demonstration video developed by the Emergency Preparedness Team (EPT) and Group 3 and Group 4 receiving the standard in-person demonstration training by an EPT member. The groups then separately performed a donning and doffing simulation while blinded evaluators assessed critical tasks utilizing a prepared evaluation tool. At the drill’s conclusion, all participants also completed a self-evaluation survey about their subjective interpretations of their respective trainings.

Results:

Both video and in-person training modalities showed significant overall improvement in participants’ confidence in doffing and donning PPE equipment (P <.05). However, no statistically significant difference was found in the number of failed critical tasks in donning or doffing between the training modalities (P >.05). Based on these results, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. However, these results were limited by the small sample size and the study was not sufficiently powered to show a difference between training modalities.

Conclusion:

In this pilot study, video and in-person training were equally effective in training for donning and doffing Level C PPE, with similar error rates in both modalities. Further research into this subject with an appropriately powered study is warranted to determine whether this equivalence persists using a larger sample size.

Keywords

disastersemergenciesemergency medicinepersonal protective equipmentpreparednesstraining

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , August 2020 , pp. 364 - 371
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2020

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