Surgical gowns and other protective apparel having color-coding for identifying barrier protection levels and methods of making same

A disposable surgical gown comprising:

• a main body including a front body portion and a back body portion, the front body portion and the back body portion including respective upper body portions;
• a pair of sleeves attached to the upper body portions at a region where the front body portion and the back body portion meet;
• and
• a neck binding continuously attached to a periphery of the upper body portions of the front body portion and the back body portion, the neck binding having a visual indicator for identifying a barrier protection level associated with the disposable surgical gown for protecting against penetration of body fluids and infectious materials, the visual indicator being on an exterior surface of the neck binding and visible from front, side, and back views of the disposable surgical gown, the visual indicator providing ease of identification of the barrier protection level from multiple views of the disposable surgical gown.

A surgical kit comprising:

• a disposable surgical gown for protecting against penetration of bodily fluids and infectious materials, the disposable surgical gown having
• a front body portion, a back body portion and sleeves connected to the front and back body portions, the front body portion and the back body portion including respective upper body portions, and
• a neck binding continuously attached to a periphery of the upper body portions of the front body portion and the back body portion, the neck binding including color-coding to identify a barrier protection level of the disposable surgical gown, the color-coding of the neck binding being on an exterior surface of the neck binding and visible from different views of the disposable surgical gown;
• a pass card releasably attached to the disposable surgical gown, at least a portion of the pass card including color-coding to identify the barrier protection level of the disposable surgical gown;
• and
• a package for holding the disposable surgical gown and the pass card.

A surgical kit comprising:

• a disposable surgical gown for protecting against penetration of bodily fluids and infectious materials, the disposable surgical gown having a front body portion, a back body portion and sleeves connected to the front and back body portions, the front body portion and the back body portion including respective upper body portions, wherein the disposable surgical gown has a neck binding continuously attached to a periphery of the upper body portions of the front body portion and the back body portion, the neck binding having a visual indicator to identify a barrier protection level of the disposable surgical gown, the visual indicator of the neck binding being on an exterior surface of the neck binding and visible from front, side, and back views of the disposable gown, the visual indicator of the neck binding providing ease of identification of the barrier protection level from multiple views of the disposable surgical gown;
• a pass card releasably attached to the disposable surgical gown, at least a portion of the pass card having a visual indicator to identify the barrier protection level of the disposable surgical gown;
• and
• a package for holding the disposable surgical gown and pass card.

A method of using a surgical kit comprising the steps of:

• identifying a desired barrier protection level;
• providing a surgical kit comprising a disposable surgical gown meeting the desired barrier protection level, the disposable surgical gown including a neck binding continuously attached to a periphery of an upper body portion, the neck binding having color-coding for identifying the desired barrier protection level, the color-coding being on an exterior surface of the neck binding such that the color-coding is visible from front, side, and back views of the disposable surgical gown;
• and;
• donning the disposable surgical gown with the desired barrier protection level, the desired barrier protection level being identifiable from multiple views of the disposable surgical gown based on the color-coding.

A method of using a surgical kit comprising the steps of:

• identifying a desired barrier protection level;
• providing a surgical kit comprising a disposable surgical gown meeting the desired barrier protection level, the disposable surgical gown including a neck binding continuously attached to a periphery of an upper body portion, the neck binding having a visual indicator for identifying the desired barrier protection level, the visual indicator being on an exterior surface of the neck binding such that the visual indicator is visible from front, side, and back views of the disposable surgical gown;
• and
• donning the disposable surgical gown with the desired barrier protection level, the desired barrier protection level being identifiable from multiple views of the disposable surgical gown based on the visual indicator.