Connecticut State Department of Public Health

Gloves

  • Wear when directly handling potentially infectious materials or in contact with contaminated surfaces.
  • Vinyl, latex or nitrile gloves may be worn.
  • Change gloves when visibly soiled, torn or punctured.
  • Wash hands upon removing gloves; gloves do not replace the need for excellent handwashing!
  • Gloves: Standard Precautions
  • Gloves: Contact Precautions

Gowns

  • Wear when contamination of clothing with potentially infectious material is possible. Gown should fully cover the torso, fit close to the body and cover the arms to the wrists.
  • Choose a gown appropriate to the situation:
    • Disposable vs re-useable (requires laundering).
    • Fluid-resistant vs non fluid-resistant.
    • Sterile vs clean.
  • Gowns: Standard Precautions
  • Gowns: Contact Precautions

Shoe covers

  • Wear to provide a barrier against possible exposure to airborne organizmz or contact with a contaminated environment.

Head covers (bonnets)

  • Wear to protect the hair and scalp from possible contamination when sprays or airborne exposure is anticipated.

Mask, eye protection, face shield

  • Wear a mask and eye protection or a face shield to protect mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and mouth during procedures and patient care activities that are likely to generate splashes or sprays of blood, body fluids, secretions and/or excretions.

Face shields

  • Wear when facial skin protection is needed in addition to eye, nose and mouth protection.
  • May be worn with an N95 respirator in place of goggles to provide eye and face protection.
  • Should cover the forehead, extend below the chin and wrap around the side of the face.
  • Mask, face shield, eye protection: Standard Precautions
    More about face shield use when using standard precautions.
Goggles
  • Provide barrier protection for the eyes and should fit snuggly over and around the eyes or prescriptive lenses
  • Note: prescriptive lenses do not provide adequate eye protection
  • Mask, face shield, eye protection: Standard Precautions
    More about goggle use when using standard precautions.
Surgical Mask

Respirators

  • Personal respiratory protection should be used by:
    • persons entering rooms where patients with known or suspected infectious TB are being isolated,
    • persons present during cough-inducing or aerosol-generating procedures performed on such patients, and
    • persons in other settings where administrative and engineering controls are not likely to protect them from inhaling infectious airborne droplet nuclei.
      • These other settings should be identified on the basis of the facility's risk assessment.

  • A respirator is a protective facepiece, hood or helment that is designed to reduce the exposure of the wearer to airborne hazards by filtering sub-micron aerosols.

  • Respirators filter the air before it is inhaled.
    • Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR)
    • N95 - Disposable Respirators
      or N99 - Disposable Particulate Respirators
    • Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) Respirators