Infection prevention and control: Guideline for speech pathologists, Version 1,2020.

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Speech pathologists must understand the different types of PPE available and the rationale for selecting PPE. That is, what is the purpose and function of PPE for any given scenario? Is PPE being worn as part of standard precautions and/or to mitigate against a particular mode of transmission? Refer to Table 4 for further information. Therapeutic goods and particular equipment must be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) (https://www.tga.gov.au/) 38 to ensure items are safe and clinically fit for the intended purpose. • The Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) identifies devices and particular equipment that are legally imported, exported or supplied in Australia. • Check the evidence of compliance with the supplier for compliance with relevant standards (Australian or International) to ensure a medical device demonstrates the adequate safety, quality and performance. • Access relevant documents from the supplier to support compliance of the relevant standards. • Check the device packaging to identify the level of performance of the device, as per the manufacturer. • Consult the applicable AS/NZ Standards (https://www.standards.org.au/) 14. • Search the device via the ARTG search engine (https://www.tga.gov.au/australian- register-therapeutic-goods). 39 Selecting PPE • Levels of PPE required as described as Tier 0 to Tier 3, according to the level of risk, the presence of an infectious agent and the clinical task o Tier 0: Standard precautions ( not suspected or confirmed; anticipated exposure to blood and/or other body fluids) Check the quality of PPE •

o Tier 1: Area of high clinical risk (not suspected or confirmed) o Tier 2: Droplet and contact precautions (suspected or confirmed) o Tier 3: Airborne and contact precautions (suspected or confirmed)

Adhere to any local practice policy

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• Consider: o The infectious agent, mode and transmission risk o The risk of contamination of clothing, skin or airways o The PPE required to protect the client, own health and others in the immediate area when interacting with individuals, client’s assistive technology and/or devices o Access to limited supplies of PPE and resource allocation • For all precaution types, visitor PPE requirements should be the same as staff • Figure 7 provides a summary of the decision making process for deciding which PPE to use for a given task.

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Infection Prevention and Control - Guideline for Speech Pathologists | Version 1, 2020