1 PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL : Addendum Version 1.0
EBOLA
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE /// EBOLA HEMORRHAGIC FEVER
PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL
Addendum Version 1.0
BY
AMOL REGE
[email protected] /// +1.816.248.4766 /// Richardson, TX
Date: November 1, 2014
Declaration: This document is not certified by any official agency. This document is not supported by any medical guidelines or concepts. This
document is simply a compilation of ideas with a thought to control spreading of Ebola virus and are proposed just as a part of goodwill and
concerns about humanity. Readers should use discretion whether to trust or follow this information or not and should take full
responsibilities for their actions even if they follow this document to the letter. I bear no responsibility for any harm caused by these ideas,
but we can implement them if we have full consensus, as we want to help victims globally, check further spreading and eliminate Ebola……….!
2 PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL : Addendum Version 1.0
PPE Introduction
This document is an addendum to primary document, Ebola Multistage Proposal, but can be used
as a standalone reference as well. Like the primary document, this is simply a proposal with
respective details compiled by me with an idea of addressing the issue of spread of Ebola at
medical facilities. Recently there have been cases where medical personnel got infected with the
virus even after taking standard / extra set of precautions. There is no single factor to blame here
because of rudimentary level of knowledge available about the virus and it being new to
everyone. In this document I am suggesting a suit / protective-gear / PPE (Personal
Protective Equipment) which I think will be very effective to isolate medical personnel
from the virus, if used properly.
About Protective Gear / PPE
This gear in principle can be more effective than the gears in use today, specifically for Ebola or
similar viruses. This statement does not suggest that the existing measures are defective rather
the existing ones are very suitable / flexible under normal protective circumstances. The reason
behind my statement is the fact that my suggested gear has minimum number of components
with almost no additional accessory requirements. This minimizes the chances of virus entering
the gear and chances of infecting the personnel, unknowingly. It also minimizes the efforts put
towards being cautious while wearing the existing gear and most importantly, it will free
everyone from the worry of taking out the suit carefully. Rather than training medical staff with
hectic suit procedures and letting them handle it individually in their own ways, it will be much
better to take that burden off of them and let the gear protect the personnel without any special
training requirements.
Suggested PPE: 1-pieceTTB [One-piece Top-To-Bottom]
As the name suggests, this gear is built as one piece from top (of the head) to the bottom (of the
feet). This 1-piece suit covers the whole body and one does not need additional accessories like
gloves, shoes, shoe-covers, eye protection, head/hair-cover, nose mask, fluid resistant apron, etc.
Less the number of accessories we have to deal with, less the chances of virus breaching the gear
and affecting the medical personnel. Following is the pictorial representation of this suggested
PPE along with basic and the only three components in this suit along with their specification
and idea behind the usage. I have also added the manufacturing and suit testing thoughts. As I
am an individual, I do not own any facility where I can begin manufacturing and testing of this
PPE but did not want to waste this idea just because I am not an organization or don’t own a
factory to rollout the mass production of suit.
Declaration: This document is not certified by any official agency. This document is not supported by any medical guidelines or concepts. This
document is simply a compilation of ideas with a thought to control spreading of Ebola virus and are proposed just as a part of goodwill and
concerns about humanity. Readers should use discretion whether to trust or follow this information or not and should take full
responsibilities for their actions even if they follow this document to the letter. I bear no responsibility for any harm caused by these ideas,
but we can implement them if we have full consensus, as we want to help victims globally, check further spreading and eliminate Ebola……….!
3 PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL : Addendum Version 1.0
Suit
This should be made of any material that is suitable for humans to wear for extended lengths of
time. PPE should be fitting the body and not too loose. Material should be purely resistant to
liquids and gas as it will be subject to sanitization after each use and might have fluids over it
during medical procedures / assistance. Material should stretch enough, giving more workflexibility to each user and put less restriction on size limitations to certain level.
Even if the suit is a bit thick, the sections beyond wrists should be thinner and more flexible to
allow all types of finger movements of medical personnel for extended time. The sole under the
feet that is replacing shoe sole for the user should be extra tough and resistant to scratches, but
flexible for walking. If not, user can wear any disposable covers over the inbuilt shoes if it makes
them comfortable. After wearing this suit, one should get a feel that an additional layer of skin is
covering their body.
Declaration: This document is not certified by any official agency. This document is not supported by any medical guidelines or concepts. This
document is simply a compilation of ideas with a thought to control spreading of Ebola virus and are proposed just as a part of goodwill and
concerns about humanity. Readers should use discretion whether to trust or follow this information or not and should take full
responsibilities for their actions even if they follow this document to the letter. I bear no responsibility for any harm caused by these ideas,
but we can implement them if we have full consensus, as we want to help victims globally, check further spreading and eliminate Ebola……….!
4 PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL : Addendum Version 1.0
User can put on this suit in any way they feel comfortable but best is to start with pants, fit the
feet in inbuilt shoes, followed by initiating any inside-the-suit accessories / circuitry to be used,
then wear the sleeves and finally the head cover. Once this is done, monitoring person will zip it
up as a final step and you are good to go!
Face cover
First of all, this is not a gap or open section on the suit as it might look in the picture. This
portion is simply the inbuilt transparent part of suit which will allow the medical personnel to see
without any additional face / eyes / nose protection. As it’s inbuilt, there are no gaps for virus or
fluids so no worries of it getting wet during medical procedures or final stage of sanitization.
This part can be flat aligned with the suit or the implementation can be modified and a
sophisticated technology can be installed here as far as it’s inbuilt and is part of the suit. This hitech portion can have some electronic arrangement inside for easy breathing and air circulation
to avoid fog from inside. In addition, it can have a small mic inside for easy communication
among medical personnel following a procedure or for communicating with remote facilities.
Back zipper
There are always higher chances of fluid touching / entering the suit of medical personnel from
front while dealing with patients, than from back. This suit will only be operated from back side
via a zipper, which is the only way in and out for any person using this suit, reducing the chances
of fluid entering while coming in contact with patient fluids or anything hazardous from the
front. At the same time, it is not impossible for fluid to enter from zipper in the back but it will
most likely be an accidental incident. As this zipper ends above the waist, it will hardly catch any
fluids at ground level, giving another level of protection.
Once the person is inside the suit, zipper will be operated by monitoring person. While wearing,
it should be all clean so no worries. While taking it off after visiting patients, the monitor will
first spray the suit (or personnel can pass through a shower which will sanitize the suit and
zipper), and then monitor will open zipper so person can come out of the suit by themselves!
We can have provision of single or dual zipper, depending upon how we feel comfortable / safe.
I will prefer single zipper, as in case of unpredictable emergency, medical personnel should be
able to open single zipper quickly and get out of the suit themselves. As a step of caution, we
should not allow any medical personnel to touch each other’s zipper while helping patients or
when they are in contaminated facilities, to minimize the chances of infection at the zipper.
Declaration: This document is not certified by any official agency. This document is not supported by any medical guidelines or concepts. This
document is simply a compilation of ideas with a thought to control spreading of Ebola virus and are proposed just as a part of goodwill and
concerns about humanity. Readers should use discretion whether to trust or follow this information or not and should take full
responsibilities for their actions even if they follow this document to the letter. I bear no responsibility for any harm caused by these ideas,
but we can implement them if we have full consensus, as we want to help victims globally, check further spreading and eliminate Ebola……….!
5 PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL : Addendum Version 1.0
Manufacturing & Testing
There are mainly two ways of manufacturing this suit:
1. Easier way is to produce different parts separately and then connect (either by using highend adhesives or by melt-and-glue method) them together after testing them independently.
After these parts are combined firmly, suit should have just one small hole on the back for
testing. As the suit started in pieces, the face portion used should have already been installed
with the face-cover mechanism. Pressurized air should now be injected to check for any air
leaks and flexibility of suit skin. Test for liquid leaks should be done in any way possible for
manufacturer. Once testing is over, suit should be cut from the back from location where we
will install the zipper. The suit should be ready for use at this point as we have tested overall
body (including zipper portion) and face sections.
2. Recommended way is to manufacture the suit as one piece and take advantage of the fact
that there are no joints and minimum possibility of gaps produced due to frequent usages at
those joints. We can start by coating the material over a flexible dummy. Once material has
taken final form, face portion should be installed with the face-cover mechanism and now
pressurized air should be injected to release the layer of material from dummy surface and at
the same time check for any air leaks and flexibility of suit skin. Test for liquid leaks should
be done in any way possible for manufacturer. Till this point the suit will only have one hole
on the back for testing and will still be on the dummy. Once testing is over, suit should be cut
from the back from location where we will install the zipper and this opening should be used
to take suit off from the dummy. The suit should be ready for use at this point as we have
tested overall body (including zipper portion) and face sections.
There is no need for per se discarding these suits after certain number of usages. We can perform
routine testing to verify if suit is undamaged and suitable for further usage just by sealing the
zipper and following same air / liquid test procedures. Once done, we can remove the seal over
the zipper and continue the usage of same suit, if suit passes the tests. These air and fluid tests
are basically to make sure that the front portion of PPE is safe and without any leaks.
Summary
As this is a very simple (yet critical) suit, it has limited parts for discussion. This is the basic idea
and can be expanded during implementation when unknown factors need to be considered as a
part of suit manufacturing. Additional suggestions from medical personnel can also be included
with the growth of usage of the suit. Thank you for this opportunity, consideration and time!
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End of: PROTECTIVE GEAR PROPOSAL: Addendum Version 1.0
Declaration: This document is not certified by any official agency. This document is not supported by any medical guidelines or concepts. This
document is simply a compilation of ideas with a thought to control spreading of Ebola virus and are proposed just as a part of goodwill and
concerns about humanity. Readers should use discretion whether to trust or follow this information or not and should take full
responsibilities for their actions even if they follow this document to the letter. I bear no responsibility for any harm caused by these ideas,
but we can implement them if we have full consensus, as we want to help victims globally, check further spreading and eliminate Ebola……….!