A Way to Spice up Your PPE Training

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Texas health workers are preparing two new biocontainment units to help treat any future Ebola patients that might end up under their care. Although the units may not be as elaborate as the ones at Emory and the NIH, they should be fine.....as long as they don't scrimp on a crucial aspect....training.

A vital part of that training is learning how to safely remove protective gear. You will get a real kick out of the secret teaching - Tabasco Sauce!

The health workers practice treating fake patients doused with Tabasco to simulate coming into contact with the bodily fluids of an Ebola patient. They don and remove their protective gear to see if they can do so without feeling the sting of hot sauce. Tabasco--which is made from capsicum frutescens peppers--causes a burning sensation when it comes into contact with the skin, so there's no mistaking "contamination."

Simple.....but very effective!

Training to Treat Ebola with Hot Sauce?

[OCNRN63, RN]

​Yeah, I think not.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Interesting concept! I know in the past, hospitals have used simple substances such as saccharin or salt dissolved in the air to detect leaks in well-fitted N95 masks. I would think hot sauce would be a good teaching tool. Remembering how effective of a communication tool Dr. Gupta's chocolate sauce was in communicating the difficulty of "doffing" PPE.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Hershey's chocolate syrup, ok. Tobasco sauce that actually irritates the skin? Ummmm......no.

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Hershey's chocolate syrup, ok. Tobasco sauce that actually irritates the skin? Ummmm......no.

The goal is to keep it off the skin. Chocolate syrup will not irritate, but it won't let the trainee know if they get a speck on them. The Ebola virus won't make itself known either. So it's better to practice with something harmless yet irritating to get it right.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Thank you TNbutterfly! Yes, just slapping on hot sauce for no reason other than to burn your employees would be senseless. The judicious use of hot sauce where a slight stinging takes the place of inadvertently infecting oneself with highly deadly viruses, that's creative thinking.

A tiny speck of chocolate sauce might go undetected unless one licked (or had a friend) lick all exposed skin (yes, I'm being facetious). A tiny speck of hot sauce is much more likely to be detected just one's own senses.

A tiny speck of ebola tinted body fluid could take days or weeks to become evident. I would take the hot sauce training unless I got got to pick my partner, like Ashton Kutchner or Adam Levine. Oh, sorry, probably wouldn't induce work appropriate behavior.

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

I would take the hot sauce training unless I got got to pick my partner, like Ashton Kutchner or Adam Levine. Oh, sorry, probably wouldn't induce work appropriate behavior.

Oh yes! Ashton and Adam could play the part of the Ebola virus. Chocolate everywhere!

Back to our previously scheduled program.............