Operating with PPE kits — a challenge for doctors

Operating with PPE kits — a challenge for doctors

Breathing difficulties, profuse sweating and fogged up goggles have become part of the new normal

30/05/2020, SERENA JOSEPHINE M.,CHENNAI

PPE kits have become essential for surgeons.B. Jothi Ramalingam

Inside an operation theatre in Chennai, a surgeon at work gets breathless.

The multiple layers of protective clothing cause profuse sweating. Her spectacles and goggles fog up, affecting her vision. She knows the surgery has to go on and she cannot risk patient safety, and in the struggle between getting to see better and being able to breathe, she quickly removes the goggles.

“Wearing protective gear during surgery is difficult. I experience a lot of difficulty breathing. Sometimes I feel like lowering the mask to breathe better. But I remove the goggles so that I can see clearly and complete the procedure,” the surgeon said.

New normal

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) may have become the new normal for healthcare providers.

Wearing the protective kit has become particularly essential for doctors while performing surgeries. Though government hospitals are yet to start performing elective procedures, doctors have been performing emergency surgeries and caesarean sections during the pandemic.

“It is very tough,” a surgeon in a government hospital said, summing up his experience of wearing PPEs during surgeries.

“There is too much sweating and dehydration. It makes me tired. While my arms and fingers hurt, the sweating that causes dehydration and a loss of electrolytes makes the mind numb. Just one surgery wearing PPE is tough,” he said.

Proper donning of PPE takes 10 minutes. Surgeons are used to wearing operation theatre (OT) apron over the OT dress.

“One or more layers over and above that actually hinders, albeit in a minor way, movement. Surgeons are birds of practice, and therefore, though it looks like a small hindrance, the routine is affected,” he observed.

A number of doctors are facing breathing difficulties during surgeries.

“Not all patients are screened for COVID-19 now. So, invariably, we have to wear PPE during surgeries. I become hypoxic half way through the procedure. I sweat profusely and feel my clothes getting soaked quickly. The goggles fog up and my vision is compromised. We need to improvise on safety gear. We are trying out some respirators that will enable us to breathe better,” another surgeon said.

‘PPE manageable’

A senior surgeon in a private hospital said that wearing PPE was manageable up to 45 minutes to one hour of surgery.

“It becomes difficult beyond that, and worsens if the surgery prolongs for four to six hours. We will have to adjust and get used to wearing PPE. But this will take months, or even a year, for many of us,” he said.