Joint Commission Issues Statement on Homemade Personal Protective Equipment

On March 31, the Joint Commission released a statement supporting policies that permit healthcare workers to bring their own facemasks or respirators to work if their healthcare facilities cannot provide enough PPE to protect them from COVID-19 risks. The Joint Commission statement recognizes that:

1. Hospitals must conserve PPEs during shortages for workers who perform high-risk procedures.
2. Privately owned PPE’s full ability to protect hospital workers from COVID-19 is unknown, but may provide some degree of protection.
3. The Joint Commission does not have standards or regulations prohibiting hospital staff from using homemade PPE. 
4. Hospital workers should only use homemade masks when standard PPE is unavailable.

Read more about the evidence the Joint Commission used to develop this position.