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Comment by blackrock | Hacker News Reader

> Doctors there were running "naked" as they knew they were set to be infected given the shortage of protective gear. They still worked there nonetheless.

This was one of the most tragic things in that article.

The doctors, nurses, and health workers are the front line soldiers in this fight against the virus. And they don’t have the protective gear that they need to stay safe, and to keep the population safe, as well as the rest of the world.

I hope they can fight the infection, and survive, and live to fight another day. We need them!

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According to a medical professional in my family who have close friends that have worked on the front line of epidemics, the high grade protective gears are like space suits, it takes close to an hour just to put them on and make sure they’re airtight, and taking them off takes even longer due to the significant risk of inflection (compared to when you put on a clean set) if you don’t take extreme care. Then there’s shower and stuff. You can’t eat or drink anything during the entire process, including the four to six hour shift in between putting on and taking off, and not surprisingly it’s extra taxing to work in the suits. Therefore, even if there are enough protective gear, fully equipping them basically cuts the available labor force by half, which is already heavily strained.

You are probably thinking of hazmat suits and it's not the most common type.

Medical staff in Wuhan wear disposable protective overalls that are made of a thin layer of polypropylene (as intended so it would be light and cheap) and easily torn. Thus it's necessary to avoid taking them on and off between shifts because the act will probably rip it beyond repair. Some also took the additional step of strapping plastic bags to their feet and forearm to protect against rupture. None of this would have been necessary if they had enough to go around.

They may be thinking of Bio-Safety Level (BSL) 4 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The CDC has suggested nCOV-2019 be investigated/treated with BSL 2 PPE. Links to the CDC guidelines and a doc outlines what constitutes BSL 2 are below.

* https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/lab-biosafety-...

* https://www.wm.edu/offices/sponsoredprograms/_documents/ppe_...

> disposable protective overalls

I’ve asked for clarifications and was told that yes, the outer layer is indeed disposable, but medical staff need to wear multiple layers of protection, and the dressing and removal processes do take an hour or more each.

I heard a recording on the bbc world service in which a lady stated ten hour shifts were being done in this gear

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