Personal protection equipment for HCPs
The surgery team (surgeon, assistant, scrub nurse or circulating nurse) seem to be less exposed than the anaesthesia team (anaesthetist and anaesthetist's nurse), who are in direct contact with the patient's upper airways, which are the main source of contamination [19]. PPE is only one component of the protection measures. It must be used by every member of the HCP team according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines [20]. PPE includes long-sleeved fluid protection gowns, lined gloves, goggles (or visors, especially for the anaesthesia teams) [19], and masks.
Conventional surgical masks do not provide sufficient protection in an operating room with a risk of aerosols rich in viral droplets. The N95 respirator masks regulated by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are not EC-approved. The FFP2 and FFP3 filtering facepiece masks are more efficient as regards the filtration of aerosols (of saline solution or paraffin oils), with an efficiency of 94% for FFP2 and 99% for FFP3. FFP2 masks meet the filter efficiency criteria of the NIOSH [21]. To be effective, these masks must, however, be used correctly and be properly fitted.