Dr. Robert Heckert here. In this lesson we’re going to learn about gloves. Why it’s important to wear gloves. What’s the right type of glove to wear. How to use and safely remove your gloves. So, let’s get started.

First, I want to start with the message of this lesson. Which is this. When dealing with infectious materials you should wear the the appropriate gloves, so that the material your dealing with stays on the gloves, therefore not infecting you. Quiet simple, yet very important.

Why wear gloves?

So, first, why wear gloves. To help protect us against getting infected, right.
When you are working, your hands will be in contact with the pathogen the most and therefore should have the most protection. Since gloves provide a barrier between the pathogen and our hands, the infectious material only contaminates the gloves. Then when the gloves are disposed of all the infectious material is disposed of as well. Here are just a few examples of when you might want to wear gloves:

picking up dog feces
cleaning up vomit or diarrhea
helping a sick person
handling raw meat in the kitchen
touching blood or saliva from another person
and many more

Glove types

Next, what type of glove should you wear. In these cases, plastic gloves are your best choice. They are light, flexible, affordable, and disposable. Now there are may types of plastic gloves such as latex, nitrile, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and many more. But for average daily use I would recommend nitrile gloves, which you can buy at your local retail store or anywhere online. Also, make sure you buy gloves that fit well. Not too loose, not too tight.

Ok, now that you have the right gloves, we’re going to learn the correct way to use and safely remove your gloves.

So, the first step, that people don’t always think about, is to remove anything on your fingers and wrists, like rings and watches. These can tear the gloves, become contaminated, or prevent you from properly washing your hands afterwards. Best to remove them. Now you can pull on your gloves until they feel comfortable and fit well. We’re now ready to work. If the gloves happen to tear or break, remove them, wash your hands, and put on a new pair.

Glove Removal
After you finished your work, you should immediately remove the gloves before touching anything else, because the gloves could be contaminated and infect you or others.

To safely remove gloves: Pinch one inch from the edge of the cuff, pull in off so it turns inside out and hold it in your gloved hand.
Then slip a finger under the cuff, removing the glove, also turning it inside out. By turning them inside out you contain the pathogen, leaving it on the inside of the gloves. Then dispose of the contaminated gloves in the regular trash and wash your hands toughly.

Summary

So what have we learned. First, wear gloves in situations when you think there is contamination present, second choose well fitting nitrile gloves, remove hand accessories before putting on the gloves, follow a set procedures to remove and dispose gloves, and finally thoroughly wash your hands. That’s it for this episode. I’ll see you in the next lesson, and remember… Be Safe, Be Biosafe.