Sew your own masks

Just saw a link for sewing your own surgical type masks.
Usual caveats apply

"The 100 Million Mask Challenge"
https://www.providence.org/lp/100m-masks


I run a cut and sew business. When I tried to contact them about helping, they said "Thanks to an overwhelming response from our community, all kits we are producing have been claimed!"

I think it is just a method of advertising and to pour hot coals on the heads of state for their uselessness. But maybe a million people "sewed like the wind today".

Might want to sew some up on spec: I think that people are going to be wanting masks for a year or so, and the health industry is going to be sucking up the N95 production. Designer masks got big right after SARS passed through.

Everyone should be wearing them when out and about say the experts.

"Make masks ubiquitous"

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/health/coronavirus-restrictions-us.html

Yes, but note that according to that article, the reason for wearing masks is more psychological than medical (at least as far as healthy people wearing them is concerned):

"American experts have divided opinions about masks, but those who have worked in Asia see their value.

There is very little data showing that flat surgical masks protect healthy individuals from disease. Nonetheless, Asian countries generally encourage people wear them. In some cities in China where masks are compulsory, the police even used drones to chase individuals down streets, ordering them to go home and mask up.

The Asian approach is less about data than it is about crowd psychology, experts explained.

All experts agree that the sick must wear masks to keep in their coughs. But if a mask indicates that the wearer is sick, many people will be reluctant to wear one. If everyone is required to wear masks, the sick automatically have one on and there is no stigma attached.

So your point?

In parts of Asia, people think as groups and less as an individual. There are a-symptomatic people that can spread the disease. So if everybody wears a mask, so are the sick and a-symptomatic people.

My point is that there's a lot of confusion out there, and simply saying, "The experts say we should wear masks," adds to that confusion if you don't include the context.

It is, in fact, counterproductive, if anyone who reads it thinks that it means wearing a surgical mask in public will protect them.

The article is making a complicated argument: if everyone wears a mask in public, then sick people will not be embarrassed if they also wear a mask in public. And it is the sick people who need to wear masks, to protect others.

Saying that everyone should be mandated to do something they don't need, just so those who do need to do it won't be embarrassed, is ridiculous. And a horrendous waste of resources and money.

Don't focus on the actual effectiveness of wearing masks. Turns out that they are not all that effective for health care workers, who have years of education and socialization about proper isolation discipline. Masks are really annoying, and the whole ritual of donning and doffing is tedious, so lots of HCW are sloppy. Civilians using masks will be even sloppier and less compliant.

But wearing masks is a virtue signal. If you have a mask, you are conscious of the risk of infection and are doing your best to protect yourself and those around you. It's like asking a new acquaintance what their pronouns are, to avoid offending the non-binary gender-fluid by imposing your hetero-normative gender bias upon them.

It's like gang colors, or a tactical backpack, or driving a Jeep: makes you look like one of the cool kids, even if you haven't done the work of being cool.

Lots of the public health advice has a blend of science and social psychology influences: note that the CDC now recommends re-use of disposable masks, use of outdated masks, and substitution of field expedient masks like bandannas for HCW who cannot access N95's. If their surveyors had found me doing this in my ER, they would have cut my parts off.
Which might have changed my pronouns.

Wow. That answers the question regarding the wearing of an ineffective bandana to qualify as virtue signaling. I can leave my N-95 masks in the box for a time they’re actually required.

Nothing confusing about ""Make masks ubiquitous"

Unless you know more than the experts.

Lots of asymptomatic carriers of the virus I would hope would be wearing masks. Rand Paul for one. Sounds like most of you care only if you get sick.

Here is a link for face shields. You might want one if you have to care for a sick family member.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ga98ddnx4gkdf..._nav_tracking=1

Keep the tone civil please.


chaosmagnet

I came across this easy to understand (even for my older brain) article while trying to understand some of the terms used.

http://emag.medicalexpo.com/which-masks-actually-protect-against-coronavirus/

My take away: A surgical mask protects others from what is expelled by the wearer, but will not protect the wearer from airborne viruses. A respirator of the proper type, if properly fitted/sealed, does protect the wearer from a given percentage of airborne viruses. I assume the respirator would also protect others from expelled aerosols.

I would think a homemade mask would be most likely to function like a surgical mask than a respirator, but I could be wrong.

Purely as it pertains to dust, because for me excessive dust can lead to real breathing problems, I finally gave up on trying to use disposable respirators because they leaked and tended to fog up my glasses. I invested in a good 3M half face respirator with replaceable cartridges. The one that directs exhaust downward. It has worked very well, though in hot weather it can become a bit warm.

Very recently I purchased an RZ cloth half face respirator with reusable filters with the hope that they'll be more comfortable and work just as well. It gets great reviews from the woodworking community. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, and now I hear it is impossible to purchase replacement filters ... for now.

A very nice article that explains the N95 respirator rating.

Note that it recommends infected persons NOT wear a respirator with an exhalation valve, since it can allow aerosols to exit the respirator.

https://pksafety.com/blog/respiratory-basics-n95-vs-p100/

I'll have to admit that I don't understand why 95% filtering efficiency is considered sufficient protection against the virus. Maybe it's like drinking water cleanliness. The body can fight just a few nasties (such as 5%), but not when too many nasties are injected (or inhaled). If so. I suppose the choice of N95 vs. N99 depends upon the nasty involved.

OR, is it that the ~5 micron COVID-19 aerosol droplet is big enough that the N95 respirator is much more efficient than 95% for the COVID-19 aerosol droplet??

N95 Respirators. An N95 respirator is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit and very efficient filtration of airborne particles. The 'N95' designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles.

All the ppe devices are compromises of some sort, designed to encourage compliance by health care workers. l The finer the filter, the more energy it takes to inspire air through it. When hcw are really serious about airborne pathogens and droplets and stuff, they wear the blue suits, helmets and hepa filtered powered air supplies like the ones in the movies, or the CBW oufits the military wears.
Health care costs a lot, and the system is mostly private, and the pressure to cut costs has encouraged reduction of excess capacity and lowest bidder, just-in-time logistic solutions. So the health care delivery system isn't generally prepared for what is happening. Hence the CDC bandanna/face shield recommendation: the face shield will keep off the big droplets, the bandanna will perhaps slow down the rest.

and yes, this is all about viral load.

We have a strategic reserve of petroleum, I wish we had strategic stores of medical gear (or if "we" do I wish it would be shared more readily). Pandemic is at least as much of a natl security issue as terrorism or attack by a hostile nation.

We have strategic reserves of respirators, ppe, some vaccines and drugs. All under federal control, which is logical. This pandemic is being managed at the state level and private industry level, which does not have funding or supplies for this contingency. Which is not logical.