Getting a real feel for how 'vinyl saves lives'

ORLANDO, FLA. — While I'm certainly not shipping off to Africa anytime soon, I got a taste of what medical professionals go through in the fight against Ebola and other infectious diseases, and how plastics keep them safe right here at NPE 2015.

The Vinyl Saves Lives exhibit (South Hall Lobby) at NPE 2015 in Orlando demonstrates the role plastics, particularly PVC, plays in patient care. It also showcases the protection of medical personnel with a full portable medical isolation and containment unit, similar to those used in Africa and elsewhere in the fight to contain potential pandemics like Ebola and SARS.

A collection of protective suits used in the field are on display, and I tried one on to get a feel for the Ebola-fighting experience. It took three people — not even following proper FDA or international protocols — to help me in and out of the yellow Chemex 1 full body suit and hood, made by Lakeland Industries Inc., one of the Vinyl Saves Lives sponsors. Then came the boots and gloves, which would be duct-taped at the seams in the field (though thankfully the Vinyl Saves Lives gang and the American Red Cross spared me that realistic detail). With the addition of reusable goggles and mask, I was more or less equipped for exposure to a deadly disease.

My goggles started to fog up almost immediately. The sweating soon followed. I wasn't in the suit for a full 10 minutes and I was already sweaty, uncomfortable and itching for my freedom. And that's standing around in the air conditioned Orange County Convention Center, not trying to administer medication or do an exam under a blazing African sun in a high-pressure situation.

Health care workers are only permitted to spend an hour in full protective gear, during which they usually lose nearly a gallon of water in perspiration.

It sounds like torture, but if the vinyl or plastic-coated fabric gear was breathable, it wouldn't be doing its job. Even a 1 millimeter pinprick would render all the gear useless, letting in 12,500 Ebola viruses, said Kevin Ott, executive director of the Flexible Vinyl Alliance and a project spokesman at the booth this week.

Some manufacturers are working on suits that better circulate air around the wearer but such an upgrade will not be cheap, and the suits are already expensive.

One complete set of personal protective equipment (PPE), much of it disposable by design and out of medical necessity, costs about $78. At the Red Cross Treatment Center in Sierra Leone, the staff goes through 150 to 180 sets — or more than $11,000 in plastic products — every day.

Which is why, in addition to touting the role plastics plays in global health care, the coalition of companies and trade groups is working with the Red Cross at NPE 2015, accepting donations.

As NPE 2015 rolled to a close, SPI President and CEO Bill Carteaux announced a $5,000 Red Cross contribution in the Vinyl Saves Lives campaign to provide support for the on-the-ground needs to combat Ebola in Africa. The Vinyl Institute has contributed another $1,000 while the Resilient Floor Covering Institute chipped in $250.

The team hopes to raise $10,000 to $15,000, Ott said, in addition to spreading the word that #VinylSavesLives.