Nowadays, there is a difficult and even dangerous environmental situation for health, therefore, it becomes simply necessary to protect the health of both ourselves and our loved ones. For this, there is a whole range of measures designed for the effective use of medical protective equipment. They are necessary to prevent and reduce the negative impact on the body of citizens of hazardous substances and to provide medical care in emergency situations. It should be noted that all medical means of protecting the population are divided into classes and types. Let's get to know the classification in more detail and find out how you can protect your health with their help.
Classification and necessary applications
According to their application, protective equipment is divided into:
- Protection products that are used in radiation accidents.
- A medical remedy that is effective during chemical accidents and domestic poisoning with toxic and toxic substances.
- Substances that are used to kill infectious diseases and are used during epidemics.
- Means that are used to seize and destroy toxic and harmful chemicals from open areas.
Medical protective equipment includes overalls and an individual first-aid kit. These are the simplest remedies that can reliably protect a medical worker during the performance of his duties. However, in more complex situations or disasters, it is necessary to take more seriously the issue of personal protection of employees who provide first aid to victims or are directly involved in eliminating the negative consequences of infection with viruses and bacteria. Also, such a first-aid kit can help with various poisonings both in the domestic sphere and at a higher organizational level. For example, such kits are widely used in the army.
Types and features of protective equipment
There are several types of medical protective equipment that are effectively used depending on the current situation and the degree of risk to human health and life. First of all, medical and rescue services are provided with protective equipment. Personal protective equipment for medical workers, depending on the situation, can be standard or enhanced. The standard set of protective equipment for health workers includes an individual first-aid kit and special clothing. For more complex situations where there is a threat of an epidemic, an enhanced set of special clothes, shoes, improvised tools and accessories is issued. The most common of the accessories are special protective masks, gloves, hoods and others.
Protective equipment for medical personnel
Give more detailed remedies for medical personnel. First of all, all medical workers are provided with overalls that can protect them from splashes of blood, biological substances or toxic substances. Health workers are required to observe personal hygiene and also wear personal protective equipment. Let's look at them in more detail now. Personal protective equipment includes:
- Rubber gloves are used to protect exposed areas of the hands. It should be noted that for work in conditions with increased danger it is necessary to use two pairs of gloves at the same time.
- Safety glasses, masks or special screens for emergency medical assistance.
- Magnet for raising fallen needles from the floor.
- Adhesive plaster or fingertips for treating cuts or scratches.
- Surgical gowns and laboratory suits.
Health workers very often feel the influence of toxic substances contained in various solutions for disinfection, modern detergents and means for disinfecting the room. An ordinary fabric or gauze mask will protect against them, but in our time their effectiveness raises some doubts. It is much safer to use disposable masks made of nonwoven materials today, which serve as excellent protection against toxic substances carried by airborne droplets and do not impede the human breathing process.
Medical clothing
Personnel protective clothing also applies to personal protective equipment. It is washed and disinfected in the laundry room of a medical facility using special products and solutions. In each of them, medical skin protection products must be available. It is completely unacceptable that medical workers work without protection, as well as wash their uniforms at home.
Medical protective equipment, their varieties and purpose
It’s not a secret for anyone that employees of public health institutions endanger their lives every day, therefore personal protective equipment for medical workers has been specially developed for them, which can very effectively help staff maintain not only their health, but sometimes their own lives. At their workplace, they are forced to contact sick patients, be at risk of contracting infections, and sometimes work with dangerous and toxic substances. The use of medical protective equipment plays a large role in this. How, then, in such difficult conditions to protect yourself and reduce the negative impact on your body? Of course, a medical remedy should be used. This method can really save the health worker during the performance of his duties.
So, what is meant by the term "medical remedy"? What does its benefit and necessity imply? What classes do they have?
We are interested in personal protective equipment that is responsible for the safety of the healthcare provider. These include: special means for disinfection and disinfection, medical preparations and materials, first-aid kit, special clothing and accessories.
And now we must pay tribute to the health care system in our country. Today, our medical institutions fully have personal protective equipment for medical workers, as well as facilities for disinfection, cleaning and disinfection of premises. Means for special processing of medical instruments and devices. All employees of polyclinics and mobile ambulance crews are fully equipped with modern medical kits for first aid to victims.
Rules for working with a medical kit
At the moment when the staff receives personal protective equipment, everyone should check the contents of the first-aid kit issued to him, read the instructions and study the rules for use. For security reasons, they do not recommend it at all without special need to arbitrarily open the first-aid kit, move and open the pencil cases where the tablets are stored. It is strictly forbidden to open or violate the integrity and tightness of packages with dressings and packaging of chemical protection. The main functions of an individual first-aid kit:
- Mutual assistance activities.
- Assistance to the victim with various types of injuries.
- Help during fracture, dislocation and other injuries.
- Assisting with severe intoxication or chemical poisoning.
- Damage to radioactive substances.
The medical kit is a rectangular red plastic case with all the necessary medicines and related products. The mass of the first-aid kit is 130 grams. All drugs are in plastic containers and are located in special niches. They are also called "pharmacy nests." In the bag, in addition to medications, there is also an individual anti-chemical package and materials for dressing. All medical remedies located here are intended for urgent medical events.
Purpose and use of the anti-chemical package
An individual anti-chemical package contains a bottle of polydegassing liquid and a set of napkins. These items contribute to the effective disinfection of the skin, clothing items of citizens at least 7 years old. It should be remembered that the liquid that is in the package is poisonous, it is necessary to handle it very carefully and try to prevent it from getting into the eyes and mucous membranes. Materials from such a package can also be used during bacteriological treatment.
Ways to use dressing materials
The dressing bag is equipped with a sterile bandage with two antiseptic pillows. It is used to dress the victim with wounds, to stop bleeding from wounds. Detailed instructions are also attached to the package, where the rules for using all materials are indicated.
The basic rule in working with a dressing bag is to maintain sterility, as the materials will come in contact with open wounds.
Collective medical remedies and their use
With individual medical protective equipment, everything is clear: they include funds that are required to ensure not only the safety of the medical worker, but also to help him fully provide assistance to the injured, to carry out the full range of necessary medical measures. But what about the second type of medical protection? What does it include, and how effective are they in application? When should they be used? Let’s see what collective medical remedies are and what is their task? In what situations should they be used, and what is a remedy for a relatively large number of people?
Collective medical means of protection and prevention include the provision of first aid to victims of mass poisoning with toxins and chemicals, vaccination, vaccinations and other preventive actions aimed at preventing the spread of the epidemic, mass chemical and radiation poisoning, and carrying out activities related to viral quarantine. This also includes measures for the complete destruction of harmful and toxic substances, sanitization and disinfection.
During the mass threat of the epidemic, medical assistance is provided by the employees of the Department of Disaster Medicine. In place of the person who was injured, employees can carry out a set of measures to stop bleeding, treat and apply dressings to wounds and burns resulting from an emergency. Victims who received fractures may be given first aid in the form of a splint and an injection of pain medication, help is provided with suffocation, a heart massage is performed. Having received one of the types of first aid, the victim is then transported to the hospital or hospital.
Health Protection Means - Quarantine
What is quarantine? How is this medical remedy effective? During the detection of sources of infection of such dangerous diseases as smallpox, anthrax, plague, cholera, a decision is made to conduct quarantine measures on the infected territory. Simply put, quarantine is declared in this area.
First of all, the cordon of the focus of infection is organized, most often by the forces of paramilitary units. People are prohibited from moving outside the zone, taking out property. It is possible to go beyond the cordon by passing an appropriate medical examination and obtaining special permission. All medical personnel who work in the quarantine zone must use enhanced personal protective equipment for their own safety. These primarily include a special quarantine suit. Depending on the type of virus or bacteria that has spread, healthcare providers may use a plague or viral suit.
Features of the viral costume of a medical worker
Personal protective equipment includes various types of work clothing. One of such very effective means is a viral suit, which includes such items:
- Antiplague suit.
- Jumpsuit and hood.
- Bandage for the face.
Thanks to this means of medical protection, the employee in the quarantine zone will be able to protect himself as much as possible from dangerous infections.
Effective quarantine measures are possible under the following conditions:
- Operational isolation of infected people in the quarantine zone.
- Observation.
- Creating a quarantine zone with a cordon.
An important role in the destruction of foci of infections and epidemics is played by medical means of protection and prophylaxis, which in the meantime are used in an appropriate volume. The most effective measure of combating toxic environmental poisoning is sanitation. A set of measures that is aimed at the disposal of toxic and dangerous radioactive materials, bacteria on the surface of the earth, personal items, items of protection. Sanitary processing can be of two types:
How does partial treatment take place in a territory contaminated with dangerous toxins and radiation? It must be carried out very quickly, immediately upon arrival at the infected territory or after leaving the zone of radiation damage. So, the first thing to do is to remove outerwear and shake them several times so that the radioactive particles fall to the floor. This procedure must be carried out in the wind. Then the removed things must be hung and knocked out with a stick or other improvised means. Next, rinse the surface of the face and palms with running water. Then all exposed body surfaces must be treated with disinfectant solutions.
Complete sanitization involves washing all parts of the body with warm water and soap, conducting medical care for all victims, where necessary - the use of medical protective equipment used at such times.
One effective means is decontamination. A set of measures is being taken to remove contaminated particles from the ground. During these operations, various special powder and soap solutions are widely used and, of course, ordinary water is used. Also necessary measures that are included in the complex of means of combating radioactive, chemical infections or epidemics are degassing and disinfection. What do these two definitions imply? What is their role? Degassing aims to remove volatile chemical particles, and disinfection is a treatment aimed at the complete destruction of viruses and toxins that are dangerous to humans, animals and the environment.