[ad_1]
TOPLINE
British healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic say that standard-size personal protective equipment is leaving women vulnerable while treating coronavirus patients because the kit is often designed with male bodies in mind.
A nurse in Moscow, Russia removes protective equipment after a shift in a coronavirus room.
KEY FACTS
Although 77% of the National Health Service workforce was made up of women in 2018, some NHS workers have told the British media that the smallest size of PPE offered for equipment such as gloves, masks, gowns, visors And face shields are often still too big for them and that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem.
Much of the PPE, even the so-called “unisex” type, is designed to fit the shape of the face and body of “a predetermined European man,” said Sarah Hallett, chair of the BMA Junior Physicians Committee. Refinery 29, despite the clear biological differences between the male and female bodies.
NHS workers said Refinery 29 who have been wearing masks that are too large because they cannot find sizes to fit properly, such as a UK pediatric surgeon who said that he resorted to wearing an oversized mask that was too tight while treating patients, despite that it impeded his sight and was too big to form a proper seal on his chin.
The Guardian They reported that some healthcare workers even had abrasions to the face when wearing poorly fitting masks, and developed ulcers from over-tightening the straps.
Caroline Criado-Perez, whose book Invisible women Exploring the way everyday life is designed for men over women, he wrote an entire chapter on PPE equipment and said he hears from women who work on the NHS “on a daily basis” who say they don’t have masks that fit.
In a statement, the UK Department of Health said “PPE is designed to be unisex and offer protection for both sexes,” although different sizes fit different body frameworks, while the Royal College of Nursing called it size. unique to all “troublesome” and “restrictive” PPE.
CRUCIAL APPOINTMENT
“[Poorly-fitting PPE] is seen in some way as something you have to put up with, but it really is not acceptable, “an NHS worker saying The Guardian. “It shouldn’t have taken a global pandemic for people to realize that women have a different form than men.” The government has a moral, legal and ethical responsibility to resolve this, and quickly. “
KEY FUND
While the debate about “unisex” PPE does not fit properly for health workers has taken off in the United Kingdom., women around the world have complained about being unable to find the right protective gear for everyday use, as much of the world lives under shelter-in-place orders and wearing face masks becomes the new norm . Some have turned to making their own masks at home to ensure proper fit.
OTHER READINGS
NHS female staff are at risk because they cannot “access the correct size protective gear for women” (The independent)
PPE ‘designed for women’ needed on the front line (BBC)
PPE does not fit women and puts them at risk (Refinery 29)
Covid-19 frontline sexism: ‘PPE is made for a 6-foot 3-inch rugby player’ (The Guardian)
Full coverage and live updates on Coronavirus
