Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Apr 10: Doctors, nurses and other health workers at various hospitals of the state continue to report poor personal protection equipment (PPE) being supplied to them.
Recently, the doctors and health workers of the Doimukh CHC had said that they had not been provided with adequate and good quality PPE.
Earlier, in March, after doctors complained that the PPE supplied by the health department were not ISO marked and were of poor quality, the department had blacklisted the supplier and directed the health staffs all over the state to refrain from using the substandard PPE.
The department later ordered fresh PPE kits. However, several doctors claimed that the new kits are also of poor quality and of disproportionate sizes, making it difficult for them to work with the PPE on.
On the other hand, some doctors said that the second batch of PPE is of better quality. They have been provided with Category 3 PPE, which have two to three protective layers.
A senior doctor said that, as per guidelines, there are four categories of PPE, with varying qualities.
He said a PPE set basically comprises a hard hat, safety glasses or goggles, hearing protection ear canal inserts, and heavy duty leather gloves and footwear.
“A complete PPE set is required only for staff collecting Covid-19 samples, transporting Covid-19 patients, or those who are on duty at Covid-19 wards or the ICU. For carrying out routine work, a full-sleeved apron, N95 masks and double gloves (the outer one to be changed often) along with sanitizer is enough,” he added.
