Scuba divers’ techniques to prevent fogging of eyewear in emergency healthcare settings Translated title: Anwendung der Technik von Tauchern zur Verhinderung des Beschlagens von Augenschutzbrillen in der Notfallmedizin
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Abstract
Letter to the editor
Dear Editor,
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an immense surge in the
use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare settings. The use of goggles
is an integral part of the PPE used by healthcare professionals involved in direct
patient care [1], [2]. Fogging of goggles causing decreased visibility is a known
issue faced by healthcare professionals everywhere [3]. This can often be catastrophic
in critical stages of patient management.
Commercial anti-fogging agents commonly used by scuba divers can be used when donning
goggles and have been found to be effective. Procuring sufficient amounts of commercially
available anti-fogging agents can be difficult in the current situation. Some tricks
used by professional scuba divers can be applied in emergency settings. Many scuba
divers spit on the inner surface of their eyewear and wipe the sputum to prevent fogging
[4]. We have used a similar technique in healthcare setting in emergency situations
and found it to be effective. A better alternative, also used by scuba divers, is
to use diluted shampoo or liquid soap to wipe the inner surface of the goggles before
donning [4]. We found a 10% solution of shampoo or liquid soap solution was best at
preventing fogging. A good practice is to put few drops of the solution on the inner
surface of the glasses and rinse it with water. In emergency situations with no available
soap solution, using the spit-and-wipe technique can be used to prevent fogging.
Notes
Competing interests
The author declares that he has no competing interests.
Publisher:
German Medical Science GMS Publishing House
ISSN
(Electronic):
2196-5226
Publication date
(Electronic):
15
June
2020
Publication date Collection: 2020
Volume: 15
Electronic Location Identifier: Doc12
Affiliations
[1
]All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Author notes
*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Abhirup Sarkar, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, E-mail:
abhirupsa@
123456gmail.com
Article
Publisher ID:
dgkh000347
Publisher ID:
Doc12
Other ID: urn:nbn:de:0183-dgkh0003479
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.