Today’s healthcare setting is highly volatile. We are living in a time where there is a virus that we can’t tell who exactly has it or not without testing. And, because not everyone who walks into a hospital has been tested, it is hard to say that you will be safe with just a level 1-3 isolation gown. Furthermore, the virus effects people differently. Some have obvious symptoms and fall sick very quickly, while others could have it themselves and never even know. Level 4 medical isolation gowns have undergone vigorous tests that make sure they have the strongest barriers of resistance. This gown gives you the absolute best level of protection which is what’s needed when we are fighting an invisible enemy.

Gowns are versions of PPE that are to be used in medical and healthcare settings across the world. The main purpose of these isolation gowns is to protect the wearer from potentially infectious liquids or solids that they could come into contact with, such as another person, or a medical experiment all together. Medical Gowns also help prevent the wearer from possibly transmitting any germs they may have picked up, to a patient that has a compromised immune system. At the end of the day, the use of medical isolation gowns is a great overall strategy for infection and transmission control.

There are many different terms that are used to identify gowns that are supposed to be used in different health care environments. There are surgical isolation gowns for surgical settings, nonsurgical gowns, isolation gowns, procedural gowns for procedural health care setting, and operating room gowns for OR settings.

As you can see, there are many different types of gowns with many different tailored purposes. It is important that you do your research to determine which medical isolation gown will best fit your health care setting needs. In fact, in 2004, the FDA recognized new terminology and standards for the use of medical gowns in healthcare settings. Let’s go over a few of these.

Level 1 Medical Surgical Gowns: These gowns are to be used in “minimal risk” situations. These situations would include basic care, gowns for visitors, basic medical unit, and regular isolation.

• Used in minimal risk situations only
• Provides a small barrier to potential liquid penetration
• Only ONE test is provided of water impacting the surface of the gown material to asses barrier performance

Level 2 Medical Surgical Gowns: Gowns like these are to be used in settings that are classified as “low risk”. Health care settings would include the ICU, pathology lab, or blood draws.

• Used in low risk situations only
• Provides a barrier to larger amounts of liquid, splattering, and soaking
• Two tests are provided to test barrier strength and performance; water impacting the surface and pressurizing the material

Level 3 Medical Surgical Gowns: These medical isolation gowns will be used in settings classified as “moderate risk”. These would be for those performing an arterial blood draw, inserting an IV, anyone in the ER, and those who are working in trauma cases.

• Used in moderate risk situations only
• Provides a barrier to even larger amounts of fluid and liquid than the level 2 gown can handle
• Two tests, similar to the one in level 2, are provided but at a much larger scale

Level 4 Medical Surgical Gowns: “High risk”. These are the gowns you will need to use when dealing in highly volatile health care settings. For example, a long fluid intensive procedure or a situation in which a resistance is needed from an infectious disease. This is the medical isolation gown you want to have!

• Used in high risk situations only
• Prevents all fluid/liquid penetration for up to 1 hour
• May prevent the penetration of a virus for up to 1 hour
• Different from tests 1-3, the test for this gown requires real blood with a real virus that is applied to the surface of the gown, if no virus is found at the end of 1 hour, the gown passes

The main difference between surgical and nonsurgical medical isolation gowns is that surgical gowns have a need for larger critical zones and must be used in all medium – high risk situations. All the seams of the gown must meet the same liquid barrier protection level as the rest of the gown. Surgical gowns also require a 510(k) premarket notification that regular nonsurgical isolation gowns do not require. Nonsurgical gowns must only be used in minimal – low risk situations. It is a requirement that all of the seams are just as strong as the others on the gown as well. So, what are the similarities? Surgical and nonsurgical medical isolation gowns are required to cover as much of the body as is appropriate for the task. The critical zones of the gowns must also reach the highest liquid barrier protection level that the gown itself is rated at. If it does not meet those requirements, or there is some sort of malfunction, it is important to let the authority in your healthcare setting aware!