The CDC current recommendations for mask use/re-use:
-Discard N95 respirators following use during aerosol generating procedures.
-Discard N95 respirators contaminated with blood, respiratory or nasal secretions, or other bodily fluids from patients.
-Discard N95 respirators following close contact with, or exit from, the care area of any patient co-infected with an infectious disease requiring contact precautions.
We wear surgical masks all day. We wear surgical mask and face shielding all patient contacts.
We are given one surgical mask to use for the entire 12 hour shift.
We are given one N95 mask per shift that really only gets discarded if seriously soiled. We don and doff into a plastic storage container. We reuse it after five days of rest for an unspecified amount of uses. We use N95 or PAPR with shield for suspect or confirmed Covid patients.
We also have a limited amount of PAPR units to use but have to de-contaminate the "disposable" face piece to share among other staff.
Per Dr Osterholm, The University of Minnesota's Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy:
"People want to wear a mask. That's great. But I think we're going to show in the end that many more health care workers were infected by working with only surgical masks and not N95 [masks]. I realize and understand the shortage of N95. I get that [surgical masks] are better than nothing, but I don't think that it offers anywhere near the protection that we need for this virus."
I have given this a ton of thought due to being high-risk, as well as having a son and husband at home that are also high-risk. I am trying to take my own surgical masks so that I can swap out after a few hours. I am also tying them so that they fit more tightly. I am using the N95 once, and then switching to the PAPR. ( I cannot confidently say that I can don/doff the duckbill style N95 without it somehow contaminating myself). I am considering purchasing my own PAPR hood, but am not sure if my facility will allow it. It feels overkill, but I just feel like there are too many healthcare provides getting this darn virus at work. Overkill? Probably, but this madness is just too much for my already anxious brain to handle....
