COVID - 19 Disposable Respirator Guides from NIOSH

Face fitting respirator - NIOSH

The Minnesota Health Department has issued Strategies for Optimizing the Supplies of PPE as of April 2, 2020

CDC has issued Guidance for PPE Optimization and Guidelines for respirator decontamination

Update Lancet article on Stability of SARS CoV-2 in different environmental conditions.  April, 2020. Survival up to 7 days for surgical masks. 

Guides for Decontamination of N-95 respirator. from N95 decon.org

Vaporized Hydrogen peroxide sterilization of respirators from San Antonio, Texas is underway. The respirators with obvious visual contamination are discarded.  The respirators can be reused by the same person up to 5 times. The hospital can process 50 respirators a day.

Amy Herr from UC Berkley and David Rempel from UC San Francisco respond to an extended Q and A session on issues with N-95 respirator decontamination from the North Coast Journal.

NIOSH guidelines for decontaminating and reuse of filtering facepiece respirators.

I have recently been helping health care providers with disposable respirator fit testing. Part of the procedure involves teaching the providers how to put the mask on and fit it to their face. Helpful tips based in this experience include:

• Remove earrings or other body jewelry that may interfere with the seal of the respirator or cause problems with putting on or taking off the respirator. Hoop earrings were particularly problematic. 
• For long hair, consider placing it in a pony tail, braid it, or cut it. Pull back the hair from the face to prevent the hair from getting in between the seal of the respirator. 
• Make sure to put the respirator on underneath the eyeglasses. The eyeglasses can be used to check the face fit as they will often fog up during the positive pressure test.
• Keep facial hair out of contact with the respirator seal. I've included a link to the NIOSH guide for respirator facial hair.
• Use the two finger method shown above to help adjust the nose piece. Do not pinch the ridge with a thumb and index finger as it will often create an air gap at the bridge of the nose. 

The guides recommend complying with applicable laws with respect to respirator fit testing. This fit testing helps assure that the respirator will properly fit your face and provide the protection when properly put on.  On March 14, 2020, OSHA has temporarily suspended the requirement for annual fit testing of health care workers to preserve the stock of respirators.

Links:

NIOSH Respirator Face Seal Check

NIOSH How to Properly Put On and Take Off a Disposable Respirator

NIOSH/CDC guide to facial hair and respirators

Donning and Doffing Respirators UNMC - 5 minutes