Dressing and undressing procedures for healthcare personnel
4. The undressing procedure
The undressing procedure should be performed in a dedicated room with a container for hospital waste, a container for PPE to be decontaminated, a chair, a table with a bottle of alcoholic solution for cleaning hands, and surgical masks.
The room should have a contaminated and a clean area, which may simply be divided with a coloured adhesive tape.
It is important to avoid any contact with PPE potentially contaminating face, mucous membranes or skin.
- The undressing sequence must be performed in front of a mirror or under the supervision of another operator who will keep the safety distance of more than 1 m (3 ft);
- All disposable PPE must be disposed in the hospital waste container.
The following WHO indications on how to correctly remove PPE are also included:
- How to remove PPE, including gown (Figure 3);
- How to remove PPE, including coverall (Figure 4).