![]() ![]() The beak could hold dried flowers (commonly roses and carnations), herbs (commonly lavender and peppermint), camphor, or a vinegar sponge, as well as juniper berry, ambergris, cloves, labdanum, myrrh, and storax. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items. The typical mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved beak shaped like a bird's beak with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor's nose. The costume consists of a leather hat, mask with glass eyes and a beak, stick to remove clothes of a plague victim, gloves, waxed linen robe, and boots. Description Plague doctor outfit from Germany (17th century) However, the costume was mostly worn by late Renaissance and early modern physicians studying and treating plague patients. It is often seen as a symbol of death and disease. The clothing worn by plague doctors was intended to protect them from airborne diseases during outbreaks of bubonic plague in Europe. His nose-case is filled with herbal material to keep off the plague. 1656, of a plague doctor of Marseilles (introduced as 'Dr Beak of Rome'). ![]() Perhaps you will be who they talk about in the history books.Clothing worn by plague doctors that was intended to protect them from infection Paul Fürst, engraving, c. Who knows, reader, perhaps you will be the one to introduce the next advancement in PPE. I hope health care workers will never again have to fear the virus or be uncomfortable for hours while providing lifesaving care. I hope that my children’s children will someday look back on today’s medicine and marvel at how much technology has advanced the science of preventing and controlling disease. Every day, new ideas are being imagined, invented, and tested to solve the complex solutions that plague health care today. ![]() The innumerable opportunities that may await us in the future of medical science are vast and exciting-these promises of more durable, comfortable, and user-friendly PPE echo from the hallways of bioengineering schools. So, if I could, for a moment, imagine a future where health care workers wear PPE that renders them invincible, PPE that provides complete protection from harmful pathogens, PPE so comfortable, we look forward to using it! PPE doesn’t contribute to medical waste because it is durable, resistant to pathogens, and, therefore, reusable. Yet, health care workers are still at a higher risk of acquiring infection despite medical science and bioengineering advancements. Technology has drastically improved our ability to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases. Our PPE is better engineered to provide a barrier to pathogens, and our knowledge of germ theory has revolutionized how we approach and use personal protective equipment. We have undoubtedly come a long way from the plague doctors of Venice in our design and use of PPE. What about present day? It always makes me wonder: What is it that medical science does not yet know? What technology awaits us to improve our design and use of PPE? This early form of personal protective equipment (PPE) used the best technology and knowledge available then, yet it fell short. Although the plague mask and cloak likely provided some degree of protection to the wearer, it was marginal at best. But technology at the time and the ignorance of germ theory would lead to an ineffective design that would fall short of offering the protective value the outfit sought. Masks were stuffed with herbs and perfumes to protect the individual fully cloaked in black from the so-called poisonous air suspected to cause disease. Now a popular Halloween costume, this attire had a functional purpose for the wearer despite its macabre appearance. I’ve always been fascinated with the attire worn by those tending to patients during the 16th and 17th century plague epidemics. And how somber for these to be the last faces gazed upon by those who would succumb to the bubonic plague. How terrifying for the children who watched these ghastly figures enter and exit the houses of their dying neighbors. Centuries ago, how strange it must have been to watch the neighborhood physician stroll down the street through the fog of the early morning, dressed in a bird-like mask and cloaked in a long black robe. ![]()
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