Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The DASH Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Module is intended to help hospitals plan for supplemental PPE needs of personnel providing acute care to patients with confirmed or suspected special pathogen infection or during pandemics. Approximate minimum PPE needs are based on the type of pathogen and a number of facility-specific variables. PPE calculators are included for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) (e.g., Ebola Virus Disease [EVD]), special respiratory illnesses (e.g., Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [MERS], Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome [SARS]), and pandemic viral pathogens. The DASH PPE Module does not provide information for less virulent pathogens or for non-infectious agents. It does not account for routine PPE usage (e.g., sterile gloves may occasionally be needed and should be part of normal hospital stock). The module does not include hand hygiene, disinfection, decontamination, and other related infection prevention supplies.
The DASH PPE Module is not proscriptive nor definitive. It is intended as a starting point for facility planners to estimate the minimum PPE that may be needed based upon the role the hospital has in the community and adjusts for the number and types of personnel involved in patient management, number of room entries, duration of hospital stay or outbreak, and the types of PPE commonly used by the facility. The DASH PPE Module is meant to be considered in conjunction with other planning tools, resources, information, and facility and community-wide preparedness efforts. It is not intended as a clinical tool and should be used for pre-incident planning and NOT during an outbreak.
For detailed information on the purpose of the DASH PPE Module, related planning considerations, and additional resources, click on the “PPE Methodology (PDF)” button. For detailed instructions, click on the “PPE Instructions (PDF)” button. Most users will find it helpful to have the PPE Instructions open in a separate browser window to follow along as they navigate through the module.
PPE Instructions (PDF) PPE Methodology (PDF)NOTE: User inputs cannot be saved in the DASH Tool. Please remember to frequently download or share as described in the Instructions to save your inputs as you work in the module.
Begin by selecting your pathogen of interest on the Index page below. You will then answer questions about your hospital's characteristics. Once your outputs are displayed, you can return to the Index page to select a different pathogen.
Terms of Use / Disclaimer
DASH is a voluntary planning tool designed to help hospital emergency planners and supply chain staff determine what supplies they may need during an MCI or infectious disease emergency in their community to ensure adequate supplies are available at the time of an incident. It does not require or dictate to hospitals what supplies they should have. The DASH Tool does not estimate staffing or space needs or address the systems planning necessary for an effective response. While based on subject matter expert recommendations grounded in historical or projected incidents, the DASH Tool is not designed to cover all situations for which hospitals should plan. The DASH Tool was developed for pre-incident planning and is not intended for use during a disaster.
While the DASH Tool is intended for use by acute care hospitals, facilities may consider sharing their results with their healthcare coalition and/or state to provide a more robust understanding of local and regional supply capacities. Hospitals may also consider discussing their results with supply chain vendors to inform future purchasing and strategies to ensure supply chain continuity.
DASH Tool recommendations are highly dependent on assumptions that can dramatically affect the outputs. Users should understand the implications of the assumptions and the caveats as described in the instructions. In some cases, though expert advice and review were the basis for the calculations, they may not reflect actual clinical practices; certain communities or facilities may have unique needs that the tool does not consider. The estimates may not account for all disasters; some incidents may exceed the predicted resources required. The DASH Tool should not replace other planning and facility-specific considerations or state or local government requirements. The authors, ASPR TRACIE, Healthcare Ready, and HHS/ASPR take no responsibility and bear no liability for any clinical care outcomes, provider injury/illness, or inaccuracies in or resulting from use of the DASH Tool. The DASH Tool reflects current knowledge of existing scientific guidance and operational experience; users should be aware that the evidence base for MCI and special pathogen response continues to evolve. All recommendations were current at the time of publication and vetted to the best of our ability.