As part of Western Health’s PPE conservation strategy, we will be collecting all used masks and gowns.
Over the next couple of days, all areas will receive a labelled container to place used masks and gowns in after they have been worn. Areas will receive three containers in total. One for N95/P2 masks; one for surgical masks; and one for isolation gowns.
As soon as these containers arrive in your areas, please use them immediately to dispose of your masks and gowns. These will be collected from your areas throughout the day by support staff.
Please remember to dispose of PPE that is damaged or visibly soiled into the clinical waste bin.
Decontamination and sterilisation options for the re-use of PPE are being explored. Minimising the number of masks and gowns used in a single day remains a priority for all staff.
Please go to the Quick Reference Guides under P for PPE to be reminded of what PPE is required.
Surgical masks are required in all high risk areas and are to be worn by all healthcare workers. For the purposes of this directive, a healthcare worker is defined as a person in close contact with patients or a patient’s space – for example doctors, nurses, cleaners.
High risk areas – where surgical masks are required to be worn by healthcare workers, include:
- Intensive care units
- Sunshine Emergency Department
- Williamstown Emergency Department
- Footscray Emergency Department (because of physical layout, use P2/N95)
- Radiology associated with ED
- Respiratory/infectious diseases wards, initially this will be:
Footscray Hospital, ward 2D
Sunshine Hospital,ward 3E and 3F and the paediatric ward - Acute Respiratory Assessment Clinics
- Western Health Operating Suites and Day Procedure Units
Once you have put on a mask, keep wearing it for as long as possible and only dispose of the mask when you go on a break and at the end of your shift, unless the mask becomes contaminated or too wet in between. Avoid touching the mask and practice this is in addition to hand hygiene in accordance with the five moments of hand hygiene.
Only use N95/P2 masks for aerosol generating procedures or if you work in Footscray ED.
Examples of Aerosol Generating Procedures include:
- bronchoscopy
- tracheal intubation and extubation
- non-invasive ventilation (for example, BiPAP or CPAP)
- high flow nasal oxygen therapy
- manual ventilation before intubation
- cardiopulmonary resuscitation
- sputum induction
- suctioning
- nebuliser use (nebulisers should be discouraged and alternative administration devices such as a spacer should be used).
- laparoscopic surgery
- insertion and removal of nasogastric tube
Work is underway to classify aerosol generating procedures as high risk and low risk aerosol generating procedures. We will provide you with this information when it is available.