Personal protective equipment in hospitals

A look at the equipment doctors and nurses use and how it protects them

On when those students could return home.

Doctors and nurses are risking their own health every day as they work to diagnose and treat patients.

To keep themselves safe, they wear protective equipment, or p-p-e, with patients who show serious symptoms. today -- two employees from the emergency room at decatur morgan hospital showed waay 31's shosh-bedrosian the equipment and how it protects them.

Carrie wynn, director of emergency services "that is how we protect our health care workers from the spread of diseases and illnesses such as covid-19" gown gloves, a face shield, and an n95 respiratory mask customized to fit each employee.

It's equipment that protects medical employees from contact with droplets of bodily fluids that come from patient coughs and sneezes.

Carrie wynn, director of emergency services "it's very important to protect our health care workers.

We're going to need our front line health care workers in the field to be able to take care of the patients as we start to see a sicker population in our area" since friday, decatur-morgan hospital took specimens from 25 people with coronavirus symptoms. but the hospital says it can't test everyone who comes in with just minor symptoms. ed nichols, community relations consultant decatur-morgan hospital "we have to maintain good supply of those now, but if we had a rush of people who weren't symptomatic wanting to be tested and we just opened that up then we have a problem" carrie wynn, director of emergency services "the patients that need to present themselves to the hospital are the people who are having severe respiratory symptoms. they are having difficulty breathing, a high grade fever with pain , chest tightness" a new drive thru system is in place to separate severely ill patients from non emergencies in the hospital, ed nichols, community relations consultant decatur-morgan hospital "we go out to your car at the drive thru.

We take your information, we have you park and as soon as all of your paperwork is done we come out to your car, put your arm band on and take you straight to where you need to go" shosh on cam already shot: with all of these protocols in place, nurses and doctors in the er at decatur morgan hospital tell me they're just trying to protect the health and safety of their employees and any patients that comes into their facility.

Reporting in decatur...sbwaay 31news.

Hospitals urge people who do not have severe symptoms stay away from emergency rooms. but if you are having chest pain, shortness of breath, or a high grade fever you should get help immediately.

If your symptoms are not urgent, they advise you to contact your