Personal protective equipment (PPE) is designed to protect health care providers in health care settings from exposure to potentially infectious material. When providing care to patients, these products protect the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth from exposure to blood, body and respiratory secretions.

Always perform hand hygiene immediately before donning and after removing PPE.

Always don your PPE before contact with patients.

• perform hand hygiene
• gown (if applicable)
• mask
• eyewear
• gloves (if applicable)

• opening is in the back
• fully cover torso from neck to knees, arms to end of wrists, and wrap around the back
• secure at neck and waist
• if gown is too small, use two gowns: the first ties in front, the second ties in back

• secure on head with ear loops
• place over nose, mouth, and chin
• fit flexible nose piece over bridge
• adjust fit - snug to face and below chin

• position eyewear over eyes and secure to head using ear pieces

• don gloves last
• insert hands into gloves
• extend gloves over gown cuffs (if wearing gown)

• keep gloved hands away from face
• avoid touching or adjusting other PPE
• remove gloves if they become torn; perform hand hygiene before donning new gloves
• limit surfaces and items touched

• all items must be removed and discarded carefully
• perform hand hygiene after gloves/gown removal before your hands go near your face (for removal of masks and eye protection) and after completion of PPE removal, and any time you suspect your hands are contaminated during PPE removal.

• outside of glove is 'dirty'; use glove-to-glove/ skin-to-skin handling method
• grasp outside edge near wrist
• peel away from hand, turning glove inside out
• hold in opposite gloved hand
• slide ungloved finger under wrist of remaining glove
• peel off from inside, creating a bag for both gloves
• discard

• gown front and sleeves are 'dirty'; handle by inside/back of gown
• unfasten ties
• peel gown away from neck and shoulder
• turn contaminated outside surface toward the inside
• fold or roll into a bundle
• discard

• outside of eyepiece is 'dirty'; handle by earpieces
• grasp earpieces with ungloved hands
• pull away from face
• place in designated receptacle for reprocessing

• front of mask is 'dirty'; handle by ear-loops
• remove from face, in a downward direction, using ear-loops
• discard

CritiCall Ontario provides a 24 hour call centre for hospitals to contact on-call specialists; arrange for appropriate hospital bed access and facilitate urgent triage for patients
1-800-668-4357

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