Donning: Error Catching and Pro-active Assistance

Acting as a guide and protector means you are proactive about identifying breaches of protocol and possible points of contamination. As examples, when you and your colleague begin the donning process you may notice that they are still wearing jewelry, or ID badges. Be sure those are removed prior to donning any equipment as they can cause rips or tears to the PPE.

Draw items like cell phones and ID badges to your colleague’s attention well before they don any PPE. These are items which can be easily forgotten about as we have them on our person every day. A good time to do a final check may be when they first change into their fresh surgical scrubs.

Other examples of proactive risk monitoring during doffing might include identifying issues with equipment, identifying placement and fit issues with PPE and maintaining control of the pace of the donning process. These are only a few examples. Your role is to protect by using common sense. Don’t simply depend on what is on the checklist, proactively monitor for any contamination risks.