The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has updated guidance about aerosol-generating medical procedures. Infection prevention and control for COVID-19: Second interim guidance for acute care settings now recognizes there is debate about the extent to which some medical procedures generate droplets and aerosols. These procedures include, but are not limited to, tracheostomy care.
PHAC recommends that selection of personal protective equipment should be informed by a point of care risk assessment that considers the risk that each individual patient will cough or sneeze in association with the procedure, and balances patient and healthcare worker safety. This revision supports speech-language pathologists’ ability to advocate for the use of N95 masks in the context of speech-language pathology procedures that may generate aerosols.
Aerosol generating procedures, dysphagia assessment and COVID‐19: A rapid review examines the evidence underpinning current healthcare policies about aerosol-generating procedures, dysphagia assessment, and risk of transmission of COVID‐19.
