Donating Gloves & Masks

I just dropped off six unopened boxes of nitrile gloves (M & XL and two unused N95 respirator masks (still in the original blister packs) at my town's ambulance station. Since we're in lockdown, we'd prearranged for me to honk after leaving the bag at the door. She came out, looked inside the bag, and was SO excited - especially when she pulled out one of the mask packs.

I did reserve two boxes of gloves (M & XL) and we already had two half-face respirators (his & hers) with maybe 10 pairs of those pink filter cartridges for our needs. Trying not to feel guilty about that.

Stay safe everyone!

Well done sir!

I'm willing to bet that after this ends, that PPE protocols will be amended...and some flexibility is allowed for, provided it meets a crisis level

if you are a health care worker not in direct contact with a quarantined patient (of any disease),we know that bacteria and virus can be killed... ultra violet light, ethanol, heat, possibly microwave, etc, that destroys the sheath or capsule around the DNA/RNA virus strand, (encapsulated TB will be a different animal)the common practice of changing masks multiple times a day may have to be addressed... yes, it is better to have a new mask, but what if you come to work tomorrow and there is no mask?

I was wondering why those face shields can't be sanitized in a chlorine or quaternary solution. Same for goggles & other eye protection. It would also seem that cloth gowns - if they had them - could be sanitized and reused. Yes, throw-away is easier, but requires huge volumes in these circumstances.

It will be interesting if there is a way to sanitize disposable respirator masks, but we may never know. The risks are probably high enough that the manufacturers won't publish such a procedure when times are better.

I’m not in health care so my standards are my own, but I went to a reusable/washable mask a while back. It was sold under the Breathe Healthy brand on Amazon (no longer showing). They can be washed by hand or machine washed gentle cycle, then allowed to air dry. This seemed like a good way to go for someone not in health care.

That said, the mask is supposedly antimicrobial, but was only tested to 1.0 microns. Seems to me a mask could be made that would test better than 1.0 microns and could be cleaned and reused. Maybe not cheap, but better than long term use of a disposable mask.

My wife works in a hospital. They have been issued ONE mask that they use all day. After their shift is over, they put the mask into a paper bag with their name on it. The mask is then taken away for some kind of UV-sterilization. Then they get their same mask back at the start of their next shift.