Eye Protection Matters. But What Kind?

Concern over the best way to protect patients and ourselves from COVID-19 has brought home the fact that regular eyeglasses or sunglasses are not and never have been sufficient eye protection for backcountry medical providers.

Since ideally everything we pack for the backcountry has multiple uses, and we need eyeglasses and/or sunglasses on outdoor trips, it was convenient to think such eyewear would double as PPE. But to stop respiratory droplets and splashing fluids from getting in our eyes, our best bet is apparently goggles, as explained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Having goggles that fit over prescription eyeglasses and remain comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time is an essential practice for any care provider, regardless of setting.

That said, what eye protection should WFA and WFR students wear during their courses? Do we want them to practice like they play, or is it enough for them to build muscle memory around locating and donning any sort of glasses? For years a similar debate has played out in backcountry medicine courses over disposable gloves. Do we need to “waste” a pair of gloves for each scenario, or is it enough to say “thwap thwap” to indicate we are thinking about gloves and pretending to put them on? As with most debates, there are arguments at either end and in between.

First, we can probably all agree that it’s vital for students to practice donning and doffing techniques in order to build muscle memory – and donning and doffing invisible PPE will not be sufficient. So, students need to have some sort of eye protection with them. Sunglasses and safety glasses get us part of the way there – but goggles have snug elastic straps, so a student’s eye set-up should at least include some kind of strap such as Croakies or CHUMS. (Yes, that’s right, I am a child of the 1970’s.)

If your goal is just to try to get used to storing, locating, and remembering to don eye protection, safety glasses should suffice. You can use them in low light conditions, and they are cheaper and sometimes more comfortable than goggles, so you might consider putting some around to start getting used to the idea.

If your goal is to get as close to reality as possible for the few days your course runs so that you are best prepared when it hits the fan, so to speak, then it makes sense to go ahead and purchase some goggles to acclimate yourself to wearing proper eye protection. Not only will it take a while to get used to wearing them, but you might have to purchase several pair before you find some you like enough to actually wear – which is the goal – and with delayed shipping times, that could realistically take several months during a pandemic, as we have learned.

Unless you’re fortunate enough to afford light-responsive prescription eyeglass-goggles, you probably already have regular sunglasses claiming your head location. So the hardest part of all this might be determining a handy storage location for your new eyewear.

In short, bring whatever eye protection you can swing, but just remember: you might find yourself dealing with an actual patient any day now – so why hedge your bets? Now that you know goggles are in your future, there really isn’t any reason to delay.