I can only suppose that Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) was a think prior to Covid 19 but my head must have been somewhere else as I never heard of it.
Well, I hear about it now. It is on the news, periodically you even hear normal people talking about it. I hear it more than most people as my wife works in a hospital. During the early days she was unhappy at how many people would be hording personal protection equipment which made it difficult for the hospital to get enough for their staff.
She was also at times critical of bits of advise that was available for people via the internet. I have to be honest, it is possible that in the past I actually tuned her out – after all I wasn’t hording anything.
Well, it all came up the other day when I was finishing up on a home project. It involved some painting and because I didn’t want to get paint on my hands so I wore a pair of gloves.
Well, as I was cleaning my hands and complaining about it when my wife reminded me about failures of PPE. Masks and gloves do an amazing job of protecting you but only if you use them properly. Simply adding medical gloves does not necessarily make you safer. In my case paint provides a very visible reminder gloves do not provide magical protection.
If you are not careful of how you use gloves you might very well get Covid 19 or any other dirt or disease on your hands when removing them. Wearing medical gloves may just give you a unrealistic sense of security.
The best advise seems to be
- wash your hands
- social distance
- wear a mask
