By Emily Keller

protective equipment

Health care employers and unions announce joint agreement on PPE protocols and measures

Mar 27, 2020 | 12:49 PM

Alberta Health Services (AHS), the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), Covenant Health, Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) and the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) have released standards for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for those working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the groups say during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are taking measures to ensure that PPE is used by all staff and positions, while still saving supplies of specialized equipment when required.

All five of the organizations have released agreed upon standards for front-line health care workers in the province who are dealing with possible, presumed, or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

These include ensuring all health care workers within two metres of a patient have access to surgical/protective masks, N-95 respirators, gloves, face shields/goggles, and gowns. The employers have committed to providing all health care workers with information and training regarding PPE.

They also say all point-of-care risk assessment must be done before every interaction with a patient, and that all EMS personnel are required to wear N-95 respirators in all air or ground ambulances. N-95 respirators are also being required for all health care workers in a room with any aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMP), or with any intubated patients.

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AGMP’s include intubation, manual ventilation, CPR, bronchoscopies, and non-invasive ventilation, among other procedures.

Contact and droplet precautions are also being required by all health care workers when interacting with possible, presumed or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

The employers and unions involved say in the event of a shortage, employers are responsible for developing contingency plans with unions and Joint Worksite Health and Safety Committees. Currently, they say they are not experiencing any shortages of PPE.

More information on the PPE protocols and Infection Prevention can be found here.