How To Test The Fit Of Your N95 Respirators

By Marci Glover


Protective gears are necessary for healthcare workers. It is also a requirement by those people who are frequently exposed to airborne diseases. When they have protective gears such as N95 respirators, then they can get their body, specifically their lungs, protected from these disease-causing elements.

Your protective mask should be chosen meticulously. You have to pick the one that will fit well with your face. When you are making a choice, you have to make sure that it can be a proper fit to your face so that you may create a seal. This gear acting as your seal will block all of the harmful elements.

Remember that the said mask is a protective gear that is meant for one-time use only. That is the reason for why you need to make sure that the mask is properly molded to your face right at the time of usage. Otherwise, it will be useless for you to have this mask. It will not provide you with the proper protection that you need against harmful elements.

If you wish to make sure that the said mask is properly fitted to your face, you have to know how to wear it. There is a technique that will allow you to fit the mask. Learning that technique is imperative for your safety. To learn about how the technique is executed, here are the steps that you should follow.

First, it is vital to have a proper style and size for the mask. You have to make sure that it covers the part of your nose and your mouth. It should also rest right at the chin and over the bridge of the nose. Leave some room for eye protection. There should also be room for you to breathe and talk without problems.

The mask should be placed over the face. Adjust the straps across the back of the head if you feel that it is not tight enough. Also, crimp the mask over the bridge of the noise to ensure that there is a proper seal without any gaping. It should be easy for you to check the placement of the mask with a mirror.

With the mask on, you better practice breathing. You have to breathe normally even when you have the mask on, after all. Try to breathe deeply and jog in place to ensure that the mask is not impeding your air flow. Move the head back and forth too to ensure that the mask will not slip.

Perform a taste threshold screening. This is the kind of screening that will permit you to determine if the mask is creating a good seal for you. Out of the many types of taste threshold screening, the one you should use is the technique that uses saccharin solutions. This is a popular technique so you will not have any problems in using it.

Prepare the saccharin solution, a nebulizer, and a hood. Use the solution on the nebulizer and form a dome over your head with a hood. If you can taste the saccharin solution even with the mask on, then the fit is not that secure. You need to work on the fit of your mask right from the very beginning.




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