"During the covid19 pandemic, the Minnesota people have come forward and expressed support for medical workers in our state in many ways. One way is to make and donate hand-sewn masks for medical staff so that the shortage of N95 masks can Used by doctors and nurses who deal directly with coronavirus infections. These hand-sewn masks can be used by medical staff working with non-hematological patients, as well as when patients and their families are in medical facilities.
Now Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is working with Northern Memorial Health Organization to develop a new sewing volunteer opportunity-making disposable masks for medical staff to help extend the life of N95 masks.
How to extend the service life of N95 masks
Under normal circumstances, medical staff will use several N95 masks during the shift. Due to the insufficient supply of these masks during the pandemic, staff members were required to wear masks for longer periods of time, usually when visiting multiple patients. Put a cover on the N95 mask to prevent it from getting dirty, thereby extending its life.
"As a doctor leader, the care and safety of patients and staff has always been in my mind." Due to the shortage of global commercial masks, we must creatively consider how to manage our mask supply.
"These unique masks will protect our customers, as well as our health care professionals, and extend the life of our N95 masks," she said.
The masks supported by North Memorial Health and Blue Cross will be made from surgical drape materials donated by North Memorial Health. Currently, surgical drape is readily available in most medical institutions and is relatively inexpensive. It can also be sterilized in a pressure cooker. A piece of draped paper can make 24 masks.
Dr. Tessmer-Tuck, a lifelong craftsman and patchworker, said she was encouraged by the community ’s response to COVID-19.
Mask
Masks, also known as surgical masks, are designed to block the spray of larger respiratory particles when someone sneezes or coughs. They protect the nose and mouth from accidental splashes of blood, secretions, and body fluids, and are commonly used in health care settings.
Wearing a mask prevents the user from touching the mouth with contaminated hands.
Face masks are disposable items and should not be worn for more than 8 hours. Studies have shown that the longer the mask is worn (more than 6 hours), the higher the risk of self-contamination of the respiratory system pathogens in the mask.
This is why the user should remove and handle the mask correctly. When removing the mask, the user must not touch the front of the mask, but only hold the ear ring of the mask. Finally, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after handling the mask.
Surgical masks have the following main disadvantages:
Surgical masks are loose and do not provide a tight seal on your face. When the user inhales air, the leakage of the side gap leads to inefficient protection of air pollutants.
They are not used to block fine particles and other air pollutants. If users want to stay away from PM10 and PM2.5 particles contained in wildfire smoke, medical masks are not the best choice.
N95 protective mask
The N95 gas mask is a tight mask that can block at least 95% of particles from 0.3 microns to 10 microns. This makes it a more effective protective tool against wildfire smoke, pollen, dust, mold and airborne infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is carried in the air, called a microdroplet nucleus, with a diameter of 1-5 microns, and may be filtered by a mask.
For this reason, N95 respiratory protective masks are widely used in buildings and other industrial environments, exposing workers to dust and tiny air pollutants. If the mask is used to combat outdoor air pollution, the wearer can reuse the mask until the mask is deformed, dirty or has difficulty breathing. In general, we recommend replacing the N95 filter every 25-30 hours.
The N95 respirator for surgery is used in the medical environment to protect medical personnel from infection with infectious fluids. In this case, the user should discard the mask after each use.
The structural design of the N95 mask closely fits the face, reducing the airflow that may leak from the outside. Of course, everyone's face is different, and the respirator cannot completely seal all the small gaps, but a suitable sealing device can provide better protection than loose surgical masks. " https://www.maskwholesales.com/wholesale-n95-mask-respirator.html