The Use and Effectiveness of Powered Air Purifying Respirators in Health Care Workshop Summary (2015) / Chapter Skim
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5 Priorities and Opportunities for Improving PAPRs for Use in Health Care
5 Priorities and Opportunities for Improving PAPRs for Use in Health Care
Pages 49-56
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From page 49... ...
IMPROVE PAPR DESIGN AND STANDARDS: ASSESSING THE RISKS AND INCORPORATING HEALTH CARE NEEDS As noted throughout this summary, numerous workshop participants said that respirator standards relevant to PAPRs could be revised and 1 This section summarizes the discussion session after the Panel 5 presentations, the Audience Discussion session, and the issues raised by Panel 6 speakers who were asked to summarize the workshop.
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Assessing the Risks and Protection Factors James Johnson and other respiratory researchers emphasized that it is clear from aerosol physics research that for the purposes of assessing respirator filter performance, all particles are the same, regardless of whether they are biological particles, radioactive particles, or toxic material particles. The challenges for ensuring health care worker safety lie in quantifying the infectious dose and in determining the level of protection that needs to be achieved with respiratory protection.
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From page 51... ...
Philip Harber suggested that laboratoryand health care facility–based tests could be used to assess and improve a number of the design attributes, including donning and doffing procedures. Multiple Flow Rates A multiple flow rate PAPR was suggested by several speakers, including Johnson.
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From page 52... ...
Other Design Enhancements Other enhancements suggested by workshop participants included • Reduced size and bulkiness; • Improvements in battery charge/drain times and filter efficiencies for longer-term use in field situations in the event of a pandemic; • Interchangeable batteries and filters between models, which would simplify and extend their use; • Better equipment-related feedback for wearers, such as flow press ure and power monitoring; and • Improved training materials that are also a part of the require ments for the certification process. Cost Many workshop participants noted that cost is a key barrier to the use of PAPRs by health care organizations.
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During the workshop, a number of representatives from various respirator manufacturing and health care PPE companies expressed their willingness to listen to what is needed for respiratory protection, including PAPRs, and to develop products based on those specialized needs, using health care performance requirements to drive specifications. Determining the extent of the health care market is challenging, said James Zeigler.
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From page 54... ...
Kerri Rupe, University of Iowa, concurred and noted the lack of emphasis on worker safety and respiratory protection in nursing education. She stated that "nurses want to protect themselves, and they certainly want to protect their families." Training Throughout the workshop, speakers mentioned the need for training health care workers on the use of PAPRs.
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From page 55... ...
Metzler pointed out that health care institutions are fighting the status quo and the beliefs by health care workers that surgical masks are "almost good enough" and thus an N95 respirator may not be needed. Anderson provided the perspective of a nurse manager in infection control and prevention and suggested that many health care workers believe that the fact that they have been using a surgical mask for 30 years without a problem is evidence that they do not need additional respiratory protection.
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From page 56... ...
In concluding the discussion, Linda Clever noted that there are many more voices that need to be a part of the discussion, including health care workers and administrators who work in home health care, in clinics, in small or rural hospitals, and in nursing homes.
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