Latex Vs. Nitrile

[Turk II]

Looking for some information on Nitrile (or Purple Nitrile) gloves compared to Latex. A number of hospitals in my area have recently switched to Nitrile and I'm looking for both personal opinions & statistics/facts regarding Nitrile....


Thanks!!

[hagerff/emti]

Here we just switched (few weeks ago) from our latex to the Purple Nitrile gloves. We noticed that more and more of our patients are allergic to latex. Also have purchased more latex free supplies. The only thing I dont like about these gloves rather than latex is they dont stretch as much. I find that if they dont fit just right you have a lot of glove left at the end of your finger tips, makeing pal. a harder thing. I havent had any of them rip or break on me yet, unlike the latex.
I guess you just have to try them to see if you like them, and like anything change is harder for some to deal with than others.

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D. Hager
FF/NREMT-I
REAL HEROES WEAR SCBA'S NOT CAPES

We are all slaves to the God "Motorola"!

[Adler]

If you haven't went to Nitrile or Non-Latex gloves, you should go now. There really is no reason not to make the switch. There are a lot of Latex Sensitive people out there, and they don't even know it. As far as personal preference, I really can not tell the difference. So, just check out different products until you find one that you like.

[Resq14]

We were a fairly early adopter of completely removing latex products from our trucks (aside from buttons on cellphones, radios, etc). I no longer purchase any products containing latex as we have several personnel who are sensitized, and several patients in our area who are also.

We initially went with the N-Dex Ultimate EMS Nitrile gloves. They smell kinda funny, are a bit stiff, and after a long time in an open box they all stick together.

Next we went with the purple 'Barney' gloves. They're made by SafeSkin i think. These have worked well, but they just don't fit the same as latex gloves.

Now I have just ordered Microflex NeoPro gloves. After demo'ing some, they're the closest yet to our old latex favorites, the Microflex UltraOnes. You can get them in a more rugged and extended cuff version, the NeoPro ER style. But these only come 50/box, and are a bit more pricey. I prefer the 100/box for roughly $10 I can get with the plain NeoPro style. In my (our) opinion, they fit great.

My advice: order a bunch of different types to demo. Then just pick the one you like best. Or, call for sample kits. Most manufacturers are VERY accomodating to providing a sampling of their gloves in various sizes.

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Resq14 (edited 03-26-2001).]

[Resc1AFD38]

We also just switched to Purple Nitrile gloves or aka purple barney glove's because we have a member over our EMS who is extremely allergic to anything containing latex

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Cruisa ..
"You never know until the fire stare's you down whether you gonna do this job, or do it well" "You Go, We go" God Bless my 6 Worcester Brother's :)

[ALSfirefighter]

Turk,

I have to go with ResQ14, and say contact the different companies you wish to look at. They usually are more then glad to send you samples of their products. Out of all the gloves I have used over the years with different agencies, I now only use Microflex. I have tried both of their Nitrile and Latex gloves and my dept. has stuck with the Latex Diamond Grip. While I understand that Latex Allergy is very common, I have only had about 5 instances in the past 7 years of 911 work where my patient had a problem, and they were also healthcare workers who became sensitive after years of exposure. I have served a ton of patients just like me who are extremely sensitive to powdered gloves. I get that powder on me, and I'd like to scratch my eyes out. Anyway, the nitrile's are nice, but I don't like the fact nor the feeling that they are not as form fitting as the Latex Diamond Grips. Plus if you don't grab a pair that fit as already stated, you either are not getting them on, or will have a inch extra of finger length in glove. Also another problem we ran into is as they sit in the box, the silicone type lining they use so you can get them on easier fumigates through the box, or you glove pouch on your belt, and can make them slippery. I actually couldn't grip an IV cath. with them on once. So that's why we like the Diamond Grip. We keep a box of Nitrile handy in the event that we have a person with a severe Latex allergy. But I do have to say that I think Microflex is the best company for gloves on the Market right now. You can go to WWW.Microflex.Com, (http://WWW.Microflex.Com,) they have a fantastic animated web site, and check out what products they have and request samples.

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The above is my opinion only and doesn't reflect that of any dept./agency I work for, am a member of, or deal with. http://www.firehouse.com/forums/biggrin.gif

[Resq14]

Just a word of caution...

There are some people who are so sensitized to latex that they'll experience a true anaphylactic reaction just by being in an enclosed environment with latex particulates floating around. Spina Bifida patients are usually very susecptible to these reactions. I'm not talking about localized hives/urticaria. They'll develop full-blown anaphylaxis. It's very scary.

The back of the rig is a pretty-much enclosed environment. Studies have shown that particulates from latex gloves can stay suspended in the air for hours, especially if they're powdered. I know of a child that almost died because the EMS crew made a balloon out of a latex glove. Their intentions were great, but the action almost cost a child his life.

This is why we currently only purchase non-latex supplies. No real difference in price, alternatives are readily available, so why not do it?

But I will agree, you can't beat MicroFlex gloves. They're my favorites, 'hands'-down!