Personal protective equipment (PPE), often discussed in the context of biosecurity, is protective clothing, masks, suits, gear, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer from infection or injury.
Some have proposed that investing in better PPE could be useful for defending society against pandemics by doing things like enabling essential services (by protecting essential workers) and limiting transmission.
Limitations of existing PPE technologies that are discussed include:
- High costs: PPE — especially high-quality PPE — can cost a lot, which might be especially bad if it cannot be reused many times
- Usability issues: PPE can be restrictive or uncomfortable, which might mean it isn't used when it should be
- Insufficient protection: many forms of PPE don't reduce the risks of infection sufficiently, especially without costly processes like fit testing for respirators
- Inability to (quickly) scale production: complex designs and unstable supply chains might mean it would be hard to equip many people with PPE in the event of a pandemic