Introduction: The use of personal protection equipment (PPE) for patient care can have an impact on the delivery of effective patient care. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of basic PPE on intubation times and corresponding success rates in cadaver models.
Methods: A prospective crossover design using a single cohort of emergency medicine residents was used for this study. The primary objective is to compare time with intubation in standard uniform (e.g., scrubs without PPE) and using PPE. The secondary objectives are measuring success rates of intubation and the perceived difficulty of intubation when using PPE.
Results: The mean time to intubation in the standard uniform group was 18.85 s, whereas the mean time to intubation in the PPE group was 19.29. The overall success rate in the standard uniform group was 83% compared with the PPE group, which was 72%. The perceived difficulty was higher in the PPE group (3.38) when compared with the standard uniform.
Conclusion: Although the mean intubation times between the groups were not significantly different, the overall success rate was significantly higher in the standard uniform group when compared with PPE group. The perceived difficulty rating was also noted to be significantly higher in the PPE group when compared with the standard uniform group.