The threat of emerging infectious diseases including Ebola hemorrhagic fever, pandemic influenza, avian influenza, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and SARS has highlighted the need for effective personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect healthcare workers (HCWs), patients, and visitors. PPE is a critical component in the hierarchy of controls used to protect HCWs from infectious hazards. HCW PPE may include gowns, respirators, face masks, gloves, eye protection, face shields, and head and shoe coverings. Important research has been conducted in certain areas, such as respirators and protective masks, but studies in other areas, particularly gowns, are scarce. Gowns are identified as the second-most-used piece of PPE, following gloves, in the healthcare setting. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Guideline for Isolation Precautions, isolation gowns should be worn to protect HCWs' arms and exposed body areas during procedures and patient-care activities when anticipating contact with clothing, blood, bodily fluids, secretions and excretions. Isolation gowns currently available on the marketplace offer varying resistance to blood and other bodily fluids depending on the type of the material, its impermeability, and wear and tear. While some studies show no benefit of the routine use of isolation gowns, others demonstrate that its use is associated with a reduced infection rate. This paper reviews isolation gowns in healthcare settings, including the fabrics used, gown design and interfaces, as well as critical parameters that affect microorganism and liquid transmission through fabrics.

In this study, we have mapped the surface charge of wool fibers using chemically specific high-resolution force spectroscopy in order to better understand the dispersion of amino acids in relation to fiber morphology. The inter-surface forces between standard atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe tips (tip radius ~ 50 nm) functionalized with COOH and NH(3) terminated alkanethiol self assembling monolayers and the wool surface were used to estimate the surface charge per unit area using linear Poisson-Boltzmann-based electrostatic double layer theory. The positional measurement of nano-scale surface charge showed a correlation between the surface charge and fiber morphology, indicated that basic amino acids are located near the scale edges.

The mining industry is among the top ten industries nationwide with high occupational injury and fatality rates, and mine rescue response may be considered one of the most hazardous activities in mining operations. In the aftermath of an underground mine fire, explosion or water inundation, specially equipped and trained teams have been sent underground to fight fires, rescue entrapped miners, test atmospheric conditions, investigate the causes of the disaster, or recover the dead. Special personal protective ensembles are used by the team members to improve the protection of rescuers against the hazards of mine rescue and recovery. Personal protective ensembles used by mine rescue teams consist of helmet, cap lamp, hood, gloves, protective clothing, boots, kneepads, facemask, breathing apparatus, belt, and suspenders. While improved technology such as wireless warning and communication systems, lifeline pulleys, and lighted vests have been developed for mine rescuers over the last 100 years, recent research in this area of personal protective ensembles has been minimal due to the trending of reduced exposure of rescue workers. In recent years, the exposure of mine rescue teams to hazardous situations has been changing. However, it is vital that members of the teams have the capability and proper protection to immediately respond to a wide range of hazardous situations. Currently, there are no minimum requirements, best practice documents, or nationally recognized consensus standards for protective clothing used by mine rescue teams in the United States (U.S.). The following review provides a summary of potential issues that can be addressed by rescue teams and industry to improve potential exposures to rescue team members should a disaster situation occur. However, the continued trending in the mining industry toward non-exposure to potential hazards for rescue workers should continue to be the primary goal. To assist in continuing this trend, the mining industry and regulatory agencies have been more restrictive by requiring additional post disaster information regarding atmospheric conditions and other hazards before exposing rescue workers and others in the aftermath of a mine disaster. In light of some of the more recent mine rescuer fatalities such as the Crandall Canyon Mine and Jim Walters Resources in the past years, the direction of reducing exposure is preferred. This review provides a historical perspective on ensembles used during mine rescue operations and summarizes environmental hazards, critical elements of mine rescue ensembles, and key problems with these elements. This study also identifies domains for improved mine rescue ensembles. Furthermore, field observations from several coal mine rescue teams were added to provide the information on the currently used mine rescue ensembles in the U.S.