PPE – the Advantages of Cloth-based PPE

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) could be nominated for “word of the year” for 2020. It’s definitely not an acronym that many people had heard of outside of healthcare and medical prior to 2020. OSHA gives this definition:

Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as “PPE”, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.

We focus on the healthcare and medical sector, and the reality of PPE in this sector is two-fold. First, to protect healthcare workers who are encountering infectious clients – primarily of the Covid-19 virus but more generally any type of bacterial or viral organism. The job of PPE, therefore is to help keep the doctors, nurses, assistants, and other workers “safe,” to the extent posssible, from contamination. Second, the focus is on patients. We want to keep patients safe as possible and to prevent or at least mitigate the risk of transference form one patient to the next.

One way to do this is with “disposable” PPE. Nowadays, the trash bins and ultimately the landfills around New England are filing up with “disposable” PPE. Plastic and paper-based gowns and other clothing. Physicians, nurses, and assistants have to change them with each patient, so this generates a lot of disposable waste. Plus, it can be expensive.

A better way is with reusable PPE. That’s where Crown comes in. Our best-in-class medical / healthcare linen service helps New England healthcare providers meet all regulatory requirements. And our cloth-based solution is reusable, making it more friendly to the environment.

PPE is definitely part of the required lexicon of healthcare and medical workers today. If you’re looking for a reusable PPE solution, contact us today for a no obligation quote.