Aide-memoire: personal protective equipment. In: Infection prevention and control: guidance to action tools

Overview

Actions to ensure reliable improvements in infection prevention and control (‎IPC)‎ practices. Personal Protective Equipment (‎PPE)‎, i.e. mask, eye protection, gowns, gloves, is part of standard and transmission-based precautions (‎droplet/contact/airborne)‎. Although the use of PPE is the most visible control used to prevent the spread of acute respiratory infection, it is only one of the IPC measures and should not be relied upon as a primary prevention strategy. In the absence of hand hygiene, effective administrative and engineering controls, PPE has limited benefit.