Various Kinds of PPE and their Benefits

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is any type of tool, garment, or hardware designed to protect individuals from harmful germs and microbes.

Typically, PPE products are used to protect healthcare workers from being exposed to infectious diseases at the hospital. Patients and caregivers visiting the hospital are also often required to wear one or more PPE products, for their safety as well as the safety of everyone else in the vicinity.

People who work at clinics or pharmaceutical labs also sometimes wear PPE products regularly. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, has forced the general public to start using these products in their day-to-day lives.

The Reasons for Using Personal Protective Equipment

In essence, PPE products like non-latex gloves, safety goggles, and individually wrapped face masks serve three distinct purposes.

First, they form a barrier between the human body and the outside world, thus protecting people from breathing in, touching, or in any other way coming into contact with harmful germs and microbes.

Secondly, personal protective equipment like face shields and non-latex gloves also prevent infected individuals from spreading the virus to those around them. For instance, a face mask can prevent the spread of respiratory droplets, when a person suffering from the COVID-19 infection coughs or sneezes in a public place.

This can help slow down the rate of community transmission, especially during a global pandemic like the one we’re currently living through. In the long run, the proper use of such PPE products can end up saving thousands of lives.

Thirdly, the availability and proper use of high-quality PPE products can help people safely go about their day-to-day lives, even amidst a global pandemic. This is a major benefit because epidemics such as the one caused by the COVID-19 virus often force people to make difficult choices between their lives and livelihoods.

While workers risk their lives (and those of their family members) by going to work during an epidemic, they also risk financial ruin by staying at home for months on end.

Moreover, if a sufficiently large portion of the population remains at home for months on end, this could have a hugely detrimental effect on the national and global economy. Both production and consumption would come to a grinding halt, thus causing myriad job losses and plunging millions into poverty.

High-quality PPE products prevent such disasters from taking place, by giving workers a safe way to go about their business, without risking infection or infecting others in the workplace.

If everyone makes proper use of all the available face masks, safety goggles, and non-latex gloves, businesses of all sizes can operate unhindered, without exposing their clients and employees to any health hazards.

The Different Types of PPE Products

● Face Masks

Face masks are perhaps the most ubiquitous (and essential) PPE product. They come in various categories, including reusable masks, disposable masks, medical masks, athletic masks, custom masks, etc. Buyers should do their research before making a purchase, to ensure that the mask they’re buying will fulfill all their individual needs and preferences.

To maintain maximum hygiene, healthcare professionals recommend the use of high-quality individually wrapped face masks. Protective face masks are usually bought in packs of ten or more. Once the packaging is opened, all the masks are exposed to the germs and pollutants of the outside world.

However, this is not the case with individually wrapped face masks, because each mask is wrapped and sealed individually inside the main packaging. So even when the external packaging has been torn open, each mask retains an additional layer of plastic wrapping. Wearers can carry each individually wrapped face mask in their purse or pocket while maintaining perfect hygiene and cleanliness.

● Gloves

Durable non-latex gloves made from vinyl are another type of personal protective equipment that is highly favored by healthcare professionals around the world. Before the pandemic, these vinyl disposable gloves were used by workers in the food industry, to maintain cleanliness and hygiene when serving meals to customers.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, however, healthcare professionals recommend the use of these comfortable and hypoallergenic non-latex gloves whenever one has to leave the house, for any reason.

When someone touches a surface in a factory, office, or on public transport, there is no way to ensure that the surface has been properly cleaned or disinfected. Wearing a pair of quality non-latex gloves will prevent any exposure to germs or bacteria growing on these surfaces, as there will be no direct contact between the individual’s skin and the surface they are touching.

● Sanitizing Wipes and Liquids

Liquid hand-sanitizers and sanitizing wipes are both important PPE products that can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as well as other similar viruses. The best sanitizers contain at least 70 percent alcohol because alcohol helps penetrate through the fatty outer envelope surrounding viruses like the SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. At 80 percent concentration, ethanol is highly effective and will deactivate an enveloped virus in less than 30 seconds.

When using liquid hand sanitizers, one should wet their hands thoroughly with the product. Then, they should allow their hands to dry naturally, without wiping the sanitizer off. Antibacterial wet wipes work largely along with the same principles, which makes them perfect for sanitizing the hands and face during long journeys when water or soap might be unavailable. These sanitizing wipes come in pouches that can fit comfortably inside a travel bag or in the glove compartment of a car.

In Conclusion

As stated above, well-made PPE products such as antibacterial wipes and non-latex gloves can help protect you from a wide variety of disease-causing germs. However, for the best results, you should only purchase individually wrapped face masks and other PPE products from a reputed and experienced manufacturer. This will ensure that you get only the highest quality PPE for your money, which will help keep you and your family safe during the pandemic, and afterward.