Articles Tagged With: respirators
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CDC Seeks Clarity on Masks, Respirators
An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently completed draft isolation guidelines for respiratory patients, but got a thumbs down and a loaded question for their trouble: “Should N95 respirators be recommended for all pathogens that spread by the air?”
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Occupational COVID-19 Exposures to Colleagues
Healthcare workers may be vigilant with personal protective equipment around COVID-19 patients, but inadvertently expose themselves to colleagues when they take breaks, socialize, and eat. Part of the problem is healthcare workers are experiencing PPE fatigue and may be tempted to removed gear for brief respites when possible.
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OSHA Fines Facility $28,000 for Failure to Protect Workers from COVID-19
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a healthcare facility $28,070 for failing to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.
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Reprocessing Respirators too Often May Damage Function
As desperate times require desperate measures, many hospitals have adopted reprocessing methods to reuse N95 respirators designed for single use. A recent study on some of these decontamination techniques revealed respirator efficacy may be compromised if they are reprocessed too often.
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Pandemic Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
Hospital clinicians are using creative strategies and producing their own equipment to meet the outsized demands of treating patients during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America reports.
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CDC Recommends Universal Masking
In another new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic, all healthcare personnel should wear surgical masks throughout their entire shift, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. Moreover, patients should be actively screened for fever before entering the facility and wear their own mask or be provided one to receive care.
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OSHA Tells Inspectors to Use Discretion in Enforcing Respirator Fit-Testing
Responding to respirator shortages during the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a memorandum allowing enforcement discretion” by compliance officers citing the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR § 1910.134).
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Petition Demanding PPE for Healthcare Workers Has 1.7 Million Signatures
An online petition demanding personal protective equipment for healthcare workers to treat suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients had about 1.7 million signatures as this story was filed.
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OSHA Allows ‘Enforcement Discretion’ During COVID-19
Responding to respirator shortages during the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a memorandum allowing “enforcement discretion” by compliance officers citing the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR § 1910.134).
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CDC Guidelines for Reuse of N95 Respirators
With reuse of N95 respirators in effect at many hospitals, the CDC has issued recommendations that begin with the caveat “there is no way of determining the maximum possible number of safe reuses for an N95 respirator as a generic number to be applied in all cases.”