This week's MERS infection of a doctor in South Korea serves as another reminder that HCWs are at particular risk of ATDs (Aerosol Transmissible Diseases) and of the importance of always taking the proper precautions around potentially contagious patients.
Today NIOSH (National Institute Of Safety & Health) has released three new resources for HCWs, designed to reduce their risks of infection.
- A 94-page Hospital Respiratory Protection Toolkit
- A Free Online Learning Respiratory Protection Education AAOHN Education & Resources Webkit
- And an educational monograph Implementing Hospital Respiratory Protection Programs: Strategies from the Field
May 2015
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2015-117
Resources for Respirator Program Administrators
This toolkit was developed to assist hospitals in developing and implementing effective respiratory protection programs, with an emphasis on preventing the transmission of aerosol transmissible diseases (ATDs) to healthcare personnel.
Healthcare personnel are paid and unpaid persons who provide patient care in a healthcare setting or support the delivery of healthcare by providing clerical, dietary, housekeeping, engineering, security, or maintenance services. Healthcare personnel may potentially be exposed to ATD pathogens. Aerosols are particles or droplets suspended in air. ATDs are diseases transmitted when infectious agents, which are suspended or present in particles or droplets, contact the mucous membranes or are inhaled.
[PDF - 3818 KB]