I’m sure I have an unpopular opinion but does anyone else feel like the mass push for facial coverings and masks has very little benefit? Think about it (I know this is immature, so forgive me) if a fart can go through underwear and a pair of jeans... can’t good ol’ Rona go through a piece of cotton? Not only that, the general public is not educated in how to wear PPE and are not wearing the masks or gloves correctly.
Frankly... mask and gloves provide them with a false sense of security.
As nurses, we are keenly of what’s clean or sterile so we can do a pretty good job navigating ourselves in public during this pandemic. However, not trying to be disrespectful or anything, watching the public on with their masks and gloves on is quite entertaining to say the least. I was in Whole Foods recently and you can see who’s a medical professional from a mile away as it’s obvious to see which hand they’ve designated as their “dirty hand” and how they hold they hand in resting position while grocery shopping! If I can smell my coffee through my mask as I pick up a new bag from the shelf and toss it into the cart, then Rona ain’t going to be fooled by my mask. I’m not willing to waste an N95 for grocery shopping. I just don’t see the need for a mask out in public unless you have a new or sudden change in cough or are immune compromised. We will always have rouge individuals who will defy advice and not wear a mask when sick, but I’m talking about the general public. I do see the benefit when you have a cough as it will stop the droplets from traveling further. But just breathing in and out can transfer this virus... I don’t know how a mask will provide protection from this. I live in a fairly wealthy area where almost EVERYONE is wearing a mask in public. For those who are not wearing a mask, is it because of a conscious decision, typically unrelated to financial reasons.
My case is: I don’t see the efficacy of surgical/homemade masks against coronavirus for healthy individuals.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
One thing many are missing here is there is one type of mask no one should be wearing and that is the vented N-95. Also known as a painters or construction masks. They are designed to vent the wearer's breath out. The vent has no outgoing filter. So if the purpose to not spread the virus if you have it is defeated by this type of mask.
I spoke to a close friend. She’s works from home. Non-medical.
We chatted on and on. Catching up on our lives. After a hour conversation I mentioned how I feel after 8 hours of wearing a mask at work. I get fatigued, less productive, go home w/ a tickle in my throat. Her response was quick, “you wear that mask it’s not right if you don’t wear a mask. You must protect people.”.
I'm assuming you work in a medical field/clinic, compared to a retail worker wearing a mask. If I'm making the wrong assumption, please let me know.
To address your article....
N95s were never designed to be worn all day, to be re-donned after use to use with a different patient, or to be used when they were no longer comfortable to breathe through. Current protocols to conserve PPE are taking all those laboratory-tested conditions and saying "To heck with them".
Just as procedure masks, when worn, were to be changed between patients. Aka, not wearing the same mask all day.
And while I hate to go ad-hominem on the MD who contributed the article to the paper, if you drink diet soda or eat food with MSG, according to him you're dying. (I don't care, gimme my soy sauce and side of Diet Coke please).
2 hours ago, askater112 said:
I hope there’s test in time to determine best use of mask. Best type of mask. Etc. I want to do what’s safest for everyone. Even though I am a healthy person I just noticed the days I am home I feel good. Days I work w/ a mask on by 6-8 hours into shift I don’t feel well.
If you're somehow wearing the same N95 for 6-8 hours, it wouldn't surprise me that you feel poorly at the end of the day. Not only have you kicked rear in a high-risk ward where you were trying desperately to save lives, but you have had to utilize PPE beyond its laboratory specifications. The hope for those who ARE having to do that is that it's still better to feel puny end of shift than to have gotten a huge dose of aerosols during an intubation.
To be honest, for me, wearing even the same procedure mask all day helps my asthma from reacting as much to certain in-office allergens -- even toner gets me, and so it's kind of been nice to have to wear them even as a non-direct-patient-contact person. Of course, again, not an N95.
...Not only have you kicked rear in a high-risk ward where you were trying desperately to save lives, but you have had to utilize PPE beyond its laboratory specifications...
Nonsense, these statements are simply ones that you have pulled out of your, uh... hmm...pocketbook (I'll keep away from ICU jargon).
Here ARE the laboratory specificactions:
User instructions for 3M Particulate Respirator N95 lists “Time Use Limitation”
“If respirator becomes damaged, soiled or breathing becomes difficult, leave the contaminated area immediately and replace the respirator”
Note that there is zero, nada, about "do not use for more than..."
If you're somehow wearing the same N95 for 6-8 hours, it wouldn't surprise me that you feel poorly at the end of the day. Not only have you kicked rear in a high-risk ward where you were trying desperately to save lives, but you have had to utilize PPE beyond its laboratory specifications. The hope for those who ARE having to do that is that it's still better to feel puny end of shift than to have gotten a huge dose of aerosols during an intubation.
So when this all first started and they were talking about making us reuse N95 masks I looked up extended use and wearing an N95 continuously for 8 hours is within specification. Taking it off and rewearing it is not. When I worked in triage before we had our current PPE standards in place I would put my N95 on and leave it on until the end of the shift.
My hospital did some research and our N95s are being sterilized twice for 3 total wears with vaporized hydrogen peroxide. I looked up the data on that and am somewhat reassured. Due to irritation from long term N95 use, I follow my facility’s current policy of taking it off and reapplying it as needed, keeping it in a paper bag between use, tons of hand hygiene between steps. I think this is high risk to contaminate ourselves but I’ve been tested for COVID a few times as has my household so I’m a little reassured that our procedure isn’t constantly exposing me to covid. If we have a patient who received a neb treatment (we have special filters on the neb and a microm filter in the room) we don’t reuse the N95. If we’re going to be intubating a patient everyone wears PAPRs.
I keep thinking about how my nursing school instructor who taught us all to properly wash our hands would have a stroke over this. But when the option is reuse PPE and do it the safest way we can figure out versus run out of PPE and have nothing.....
The push to reopen society has been based in part on the argument that the psychological toll of sheltering in place is too high. It is the second thing mentioned after talking about the economy crashing.
I find people wearing masks in public to do a lot to alleviate some of my anxiety about deaths that are to come. They are a far from ideal solution, but the most ideal solution is already being discontinued. Masks are the next thing we have in the orificenal. Combined with social distancing and good hand hygiene, its the best we have. If we are going to use things other than actual science to argue for or against interventions, I submit the argument that for those of us who think we are reopening far too quickly, the wearing of masks is a mental health intervention.
I agree with your point. I feel much more comfortable when I see others wearing a mask outside.
I agree this is being done as a false sense of security, and it is honestly the dumbest thing yet imo. It’s completely ineffective, neither the cloth masks nor the level 1s can filter any viruses. You’ll get just as much effectiveness from covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze. ? I think it also undermines a lot of mental health and creates more health issues. I don’t support it at all nor does it make me feel more comfortable to see it, it makes me feel like people are unable to think rationally.
I agree this is being done as a false sense of security, and it is honestly the dumbest thing yet imo. It’s completely ineffective, neither the cloth masks nor the level 1s can filter any viruses. You’ll get just as much effectiveness from covering your mouth when you cough/sneeze. ? I think it also undermines a lot of mental health and creates more health issues. I don’t support it at all nor does it make me feel more comfortable to see it, it makes me feel like people are unable to think rationally.
10 pages of replies and guess how many times we've addressed that there actually IS evidence that they reduce the spread of illness in the general population?
10 pages of replies and guess how many times we've addressed that there actually IS evidence that they reduce the spread of illness in the general population?
All they can do, at best, is reduce the distance of droplets. If you cover your mouth, you do the same thing, and that’s in a sick person, not a healthy one. There’s also evidence that mask wearing increases illness from people touching their face more, adjusting them, not wearing them properly, reusing them...a warm, moist environment is the perfect micro lab environment....it’s an idiotic recommendation for something with such a low mortality rate. Especially idiotic as a recommendation for children as their risk rate is so minuscule.
grammy2
4 Posts
I'm agreeing. Another Texan here.