N 95 Masks Questions

[pedro47]

This is the very best mask to prevent from catching the Coronavirus correct?

How many times can you were this mask and for how many hours at a time?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

This is the very best mask to prevent from catching the Coronavirus correct?

How many times can you were this mask and for how many hours at a time?

Hi Pedro47,
Here is what I understand / this applies to Covid 19
(as well as other coronavirus’s like cold and flu)

The virus is a respiratory illness . It gains access to your lungs etc through 2 primary access points :
1) your nose
2) your mouth

This is why there are all the warnings about touching your face . YOU -self contaminate yourself after your hands touch a surface that has the virus on it - and then touch your mouth or nose .

Anything that creates a barrier to your hand to face contact will work .
If you look closely at pictures from the 1918/19 Spanish Flu epidemic - you will see a lot of home made
style masks . take a washcloth & sew a string to it .
The masks you see everyone in Asia wearing on TV are effective in preventing self contamination .

standard N-95 masks will work . . The ones from the building supply store are generally used to prevent
particles (like dry wall dust from sanding) from getting in your lungs .

If you are 12 inches from someone with a coronavirus and they sneeze on you - an N 95 mask is likely
more effective since it blocks airborne particles .That is one of the reasons for the 6 foot social distancing
concept - most sneeze particles do not travel that far .

You can likely wear all masks for as long as you realistically want . In my experience the “elastic / rubber band “ that holds them on starts to create skin irritation after a period of time .
I also understand that expiation dates on masks primarily are about the elastic becoming brittle and breaking .

I hope this is helpful,.

 

[Talent312]

Wearing the mask encourages you to put your hands to your face to adjust it.
At a time when masks are in short supply for front-line medical peep, personal use is selfish.

From Business Insider
Target is apologizing after selling coveted N95 masks to the public while health care workers across the country run out

Target apologized on Saturday for selling N95 masks in Seattle stores while health care workers around the country have been running out amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company said the masks were put on shelves "in error," and said they have since been donated to Washington state health officials.

Washington state officials intervened on Saturday to stop Target stores in Seattle from selling N95 face masks to the public, while doctors and other health care workers suffered from a nationwide shortage. "We heard reports that a @target in Seattle was selling n95 masks. My staff and others stepped in," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee tweeted Saturday. "Those masks are now on their way to the health care workers who desperately need them."

Target issued multiple apologies via Twitter on Saturday, saying it was a mistake to put the masks on shelves.

 

[presley]

Everything I've seen/read about the masks is that if you are sick, it helps prevent others from getting ill but it doesn't keep you from getting ill.

I have a few old ones from that I bought a few years ago to wear when cleaning in dusty areas since I am allergic to dust. I also have to wear goggles since dust in my eyes is one of the most miserable parts of my allergy. The fact that I bought a box of 10 several years ago and still have some shows you how much I enjoyed wearing them. Blech. I'm trying to get sturdier ones for my husband and his assistant, since they work up close and personal with people, but if I keep failing on getting some new ones, I'm going to give them my old decomposing ones.

 

[Rolltydr]

This is directly from coronavirus.gov, the CDC website for information about covid-19.

• What is a Surgical N95 respirator and who needs to wear it?
  • A surgical N95 (also referred as a medical respirator) is recommended only for use by healthcare personnel (HCP) who need protection from both airborne and fluid hazards (e.g., splashes, sprays). These respirators are not used or needed outside of healthcare settings. In times of shortage, only HCP who are working in a sterile field or who may be exposed to high velocity splashes, sprays, or splatters of blood or body fluids should wear these respirators, such as in operative or procedural settings. Most HCP caring for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients should not need to use surgical N95 respirators and can use standard N95 respirators.
  • If a surgical N95 is not available for use in operative or procedural settings, then an unvalved N95 respirator may be used with a faceshield to help block high velocity streams of blood and body fluids.

Please do not buy these masks! They are in critically short supply for the medical professionals who need them!

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

......The virus is a respiratory illness . It gains access to your lungs etc through 2 primary access points :1) your nose. 2) your mouth
YOU -self contaminate yourself after your hands touch a surface that has the virus on it - and then touch your mouth or nose .
Anything that creates a barrier to your hand to face contact will work .If you look closely at pictures from the 1918/19 Spanish Flu epidemic - you will see a lot of home made
style masks . take a washcloth & sew a string to it .
The masks you see everyone in Asia wearing on TV are effective in preventing self contamination . ........

as per above :
YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN MASK - to prevent self contamination / which is the most common way to get Covid -19:

Please leave the limited supply of N-95 masks for healthcare workers who will
be in much closer proximity to those will illness .

 

[Beachclubmum]

I bought N-95 masks during the last SARS scare. They’ve been sitting patiently in my cabinet ever since. PackRat for the win.

I’ve been carefully handing them out to family members if needed, especially my DS who works in healthcare and has no PPE available to him.

 

[WinniWoman]

I don't know about anyone else, but I have been wearing glasses since I was a kid and it is way hard to break the habit of pushing up on the nose bridge when they slide down a zillion times per day.

 

[WinniWoman]

I do not know if this is actually effective but I just saw a video today showing a woman taking a sheet of a paper towel and folding it up in skinny rows and then stapling a rubber band on each side. Wala! A mask! She put it on and expanded it from her mouth to cover her nose.

 

[WinniWoman]

Everything I've seen/read about the masks is that if you are sick, it helps prevent others from getting ill but it doesn't keep you from getting ill.

I have a few old ones from that I bought a few years ago to wear when cleaning in dusty areas since I am allergic to dust. I also have to wear goggles since dust in my eyes is one of the most miserable parts of my allergy. The fact that I bought a box of 10 several years ago and still have some shows you how much I enjoyed wearing them. Blech. I'm trying to get sturdier ones for my husband and his assistant, since they work up close and personal with people, but if I keep failing on getting some new ones, I'm going to give them my old decomposing ones.

I do not believe that. The masks help the wearer and the people that surround the wearer- both.

 

[Rolltydr]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/17/masks-might-not-help-tossing-salt-over-shoulder-sure-people-want-believe/

Harry

 

[CPNY]

Problem is everyone ran out and bought masks especially N95 mask, drying up the supply chain leaving out healthcare workers in the dust. Everyone has these masks in their house that will go unused because we are quarantined or in reality won’t wear them anyway. PS if you had a cold or the flu this year (Jan-today) there is a 30% chance you already had Covid19

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Social shaming to follow:

You have no business wearing an N-95 mask, not when health care workers caring for COVID-19 patients are becoming sick themselves because they don't have access to sufficient N-95 masks.

If you have access to an N-95 mask or masks, you should donate the mask to a local medical facility involved in treating COVID-19 patients. They will gladly accept the mask.

 

[bbodb1]

When will the N-96 be coming out?

 

[WinniWoman]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/17/masks-might-not-help-tossing-salt-over-shoulder-sure-people-want-believe/

Harry

If masks did not help the people that wear them then our health care workers wouldn't need them.

 

[Mongoose]

This is the very best mask to prevent from catching the Coronavirus correct?

How many times can you were this mask and for how many hours at a time?

Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators: Contingency Capacity Strategies

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

www.cdc.gov

Recommended Guidance for Extended Use and Limited Reuse of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators in Healthcare Settings

This Page is No Longer Available

This document recommends practices for extended use and limited reuse of NIOSH-certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators (commonly called “N95 respirators”).

www.cdc.gov

 

[geist1223]

Everything I've seen/read about the masks is that if you are sick, it helps prevent others from getting ill but it doesn't keep you from getting ill.

The N95 if properly fitted will protect the wearer from the corona virus etc.

The Mask that looks like what surgeons wear will not protect the wearer from anything. They are designed to protect the patient from whatever the Doctors/Nurses breathe out.

We bought a Box of 20 for our February trip Down Under. Never needed them. We are saving them for us in case things get worse.

 

[Mongoose]

Everything I've seen/read about the masks is that if you are sick, it helps prevent others from getting ill but it doesn't keep you from getting ill.

I have a few old ones from that I bought a few years ago to wear when cleaning in dusty areas since I am allergic to dust. I also have to wear goggles since dust in my eyes is one of the most miserable parts of my allergy. The fact that I bought a box of 10 several years ago and still have some shows you how much I enjoyed wearing them. Blech. I'm trying to get sturdier ones for my husband and his assistant, since they work up close and personal with people, but if I keep failing on getting some new ones, I'm going to give them my old decomposing ones.

This is completly false and the reason we are seeing the massive growth in cases. If you look at South Korea and Singapore. They mandated use and testing and killed the growth curve.

 

[Mongoose]

The N95 if properly fitted will protect the wearer from the corona virus etc.

The Mask that looks like what surgeons wear will not protect the wearer from anything. They are designed to protect the patient from whatever the Doctors/Nurses breathe out.

This is once again false. Check your facts. They help but are not as effective. Do Not Spread False Information!

 

[heckp]

I am a registered nurse and know for a fact that N95 masks have different sizes. We take a mask fit test every 2 years to make sure that that certain mask is still the right fit for you. The mask fit test is a part of our employment requirement. The first time I did a mask fit test, I went through 4 different sizes before I got to my right one.

 

[Mongoose]

Problem is everyone ran out and bought masks especially N95 mask, drying up the supply chain leaving out healthcare workers in the dust. Everyone has these masks in their house that will go unused because we are quarantined or in reality won’t wear them anyway. PS if you had a cold or the flu this year (Jan-today) there is a 30% chance you already had Covid19

The problem is also increased useage. Medical Centers have gone from using 1-2 a week to 40+ per day. The N95 needs to be used for High Risk Procedures only and must be protected from waste.

 

[5finny]

I think in a perfect world there would be enough masks for anyone who wanted one.
The 95 in n-95 tells you it blocks 95% of particulates
There are masks that block more and masks that mask less particulates --95 is the standard
Surgical n-95 masks also block fluids

Downside to masks is that most people don't put them on right so they are ineffective
It is not complicated but it needs to be airtight

They are helpful only when you have the virus or when you are in contact with someone who has the virus

A lot of people find they irritate their face and cause them to touch their face more often either to itch or to adjust-that may be more problematic than potential public interaction with unknown infected people

They are designed to be used once but when they are scarce they are used more often
At some point (and it is not clear when) the multiuse becomes counterproductive

I had 4 small boxes that I got from Home Depot some time ago
I gave one box to a person who works at a hospital. They had been told to multiuse one mask
I gave one box to someone in the military who was being trained as a back up first responder but did not have any
I offered one box to a neighbor whose son had an immune disorder-they canceled spring break so I still have that one
I will personally use the masks in the house if someone in the house should comes down with the virus

Disposable Latex gloves seem to be currently available.
Using them when shopping or picking up packages may be a better thought

 

[Mongoose]

I am a registered nurse and know for a fact that N95 masks have different sizes. We take a mask fit test every 2 years to make sure that that certain mask is still the right fit for you. The mask fit test is a part of our employment requirement. The first time I did a mask fit test, I went through 4 different sizes before I got to my right one.

Very true. There is also a medical evaluation to ensure the person wearing it can handle the increased impact on their respiratory system. About 70% can use the universal fit N95. 10% extra large and 20% small.

 

[sue1947]

If masks did not help the people that wear them then our health care workers wouldn't need them.

They need them because they are in regular close contact with sick people. You aren't. They have to get within inches of infected individuals; you don't. Using them for non-medical uses when medical professionals have to beg the community to make cloth masks for them is the height of selfishness and ignorance. Strong words, but we all need to pitch in and help.

 

[geist1223]

This is once again false. Check your facts. They help but are not as effective. Do Not Spread False Information!

Back at you. If they are so ineffective why do all the medical centers/providers need/want them. You are now blocked.