The innovation will help many bearded community members practicing the faith.
London:
Innovative technique of a British research team to cover a beard, nicknamed the “Singh Thattha“, which allows bearded doctors to wear a properly fitted respirator mask during frontline COVID-19 tasks without the need to shave, has been shown to be effective in early trials.
The team, led by Professor Gurch Randhawa of the University of Bedfordshire and Dr Rajinder Pal Singh, sought to work on a solution following numerous calls from Public Health England (PHE) to protect ethnic minority doctors , including the Sikh, Jewish and Muslim communities, who tend to have beards for religious reasons.
Because shaving was a mandatory prerequisite for wearing respiratory masks, many members of the loyal bearded community, such as Sikhs, Jews and Muslims, were affected and had to face the dilemma of redeploying jobs from first line in the health sector involving exposure. COVID-19, ”said Randhawa, professor of diversity in public health at the University of Bedfordshire and director of the University Institute for Health Research.
“Redeployment to other areas is causing a loss of skills and a need for retraining, and young doctors have seen their training affected,” he said.
Mr. Randhawa recalls a similar situation in the United States since 2005, when a bearded Sikh man practicing the religion was refused the prison officer job in California because the job required staff to wear masks occasionally respiratory.
A media report said at the time that Kamala Harris, then attorney general and now vice president-elect, was unable to support the nomination as the beard would be an issue as policy dictated the fit of a gas mask.
“In these two scenarios, the common theme was that the beard was seen as an obstacle to wearing a breathing mask. The other common principle was concern for the health and safety of the employee. There was no other choice – or maybe it was unexplored, ”recalls Mr. Randhawa.
In the context of this conundrum, Manchester-based transplant surgeon Dr Rajinder Pal Singh came up with the idea of using an under-mask beard cover, or a beard strip traditionally referred to as a “ thattha ” by Sikhs, to allow him to wear an FFP3 respirator mask – essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline physicians – and his innovation ended up passing the National Health Service (NHS) qualitative fit test.
“Respirator masks are the ideal respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for protection against small viral particles such as COVID-19, as well as industrial toxic gases and smoke,” says Dr Singh.
“In the current pandemic, for safety reasons, these masks are mandatory for healthcare workers exposed to aerosol-generating procedures (AGP) involving COVID-19. Wearing these masks requires that a person be clean shaven to allow a sturdy seal of the face mask. . There is no evidence to suggest why, instead of shaving, the facial hair factor cannot be overcome with under-mask beard coverage, ”he said.
“Safety concerns, as Kamala Harris pointed out in 2005, for bearded men to put on gas masks for industrial reasons, as well as in 2020 for COVID-19 health care reasons now appear be processed in a timely manner by the ‘Singh Thattha“Technical,” he added.
According to the University of Bedfordshire, a first try meant that there seemed to be a choice – that shaving might not be essential for wearing a breathing mask. The partnership between Professor Randhawa and Dr Singh has led to an in-depth study of the promising and innovative alternative. The two also teamed up with a group of co-authors for the study – Dr Sukhpal Singh Gill from the Sikh Doctors and Dentists Association (SDDA), Dr Sukhdev Singh from the Sikh Doctors Association, Dr BS Ubhi, the Dr Gaggandeep Singh Alg, Dr HS Safri and Dr Gurpreet Singh.
Over the past few months, the team has collaborated to assess the effectiveness of “Singh ThatthThe technique and study results, published in the December issue of the Journal of Health Infection, showed that 25 of 27 bearded Sikh dentists had passed the qualitative ‘Fit Test’ using the beard blanket under the mask.
“Facial hair, although being an accepted risk factor for face mask leakage, can be overcome by using a beard blanket under the mask,” the study concludes.
SDDA also funded a robust quantitative pilot study in Shrewsbury, where five out of five bearded Sikhs passed the quantitative fit test.
“The concept of fitting the mask to the face, rather than fitting the face to the mask, should be reasonably taken up in this regard. We look forward to building on the results of this study and informing future policies and practices, ”said Dr Gill.
Dr Safri, a dentist based in Hampshire, said the technique also helps overcome critical cost and supply issues associated with high-level PPE.
“Alternative face masks recommended for those who cannot shave for religious or other reasons, such as PAPRs (motorized air purifying respirators) are expensive, in limited supply, and difficult to use … More , dentists are unable to perform all the procedures in their repertoire, ”he says.
British Sikhs have been leading an awareness campaign on the issue of safety equipment for bearded professionals since the start of the year. The Sikh Doctors’ Association reported that some of its members had been moved from their regular rotation in NHS hospitals for refusing to shave their beards and failing a so-called ‘fit test’ of medical equipment. critical facial protection, which has led to finding alternatives.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
