﻿Welcome back, everyone to Inside Infection Control, our video series here at CDC's Project Firstline.
I'm Abby Carlson. I'm an infectious diseases doctor here at CDC,
and it's great to have you here today.
We have been talking about what PPE is and how it's important for infection control in health care.
Now we're going to continue to talk about some specific pieces of your PPE.
Today we are looking at respirators.
So what is a respirator, exactly?
Well, the job of a respirator is to keep you from breathing in things in the air
that might hurt you, like germs, chemicals, dust and other dangerous things.
Respirators are required in many different jobs,
like some are used for construction, and other jobs where you need to filter the air that you're breathing in.
In health care we use respirators when we think we're going to be in a situation
where we could breathe in air that's carrying infectious particles like viruses.
There are different types of respirators that you might see,
or you might use, and they may even look like ones in other jobs.
But today we're going to talk about a specific type called air purifying respirators.
These work by using filters or canisters or cartridges
to remove dangerous things from the air that you are breathing in.
They don't supply new air to you the way some other respirator types do.
One type of air purifying respirator is a Filtering Facepiece Respirator or FFP,
and those are designed to be used once and then thrown away.
Those respirators fit snugly against your face,
covering your mouth and your nose and fitting just under your chin.
The most common type that we use in health care is the N95
and because they're so common, we want to cover them in detail.
So we're actually going to talk about all those specifics in a different episode.
For today we're going to talk a little bit more about some of the other aspects of air purifying respirators.
One of them that's also very frequently used in health care
is the powered air purifying respirator, PAPR, or usually known as "Papper" [PAPR],
and that uses a battery operated air filter and blower to get clean air to you.
The filter sits either in the belt pack or in the helmet by the head,
and air is sucked in through that filter and pulled through a filtering cartridge or a canister,
then blown into a mask that covers your entire face, or a hood that covers your head.
Usually, these are used for specific situations
where there is more risk that you could be exposed to infectious things in the air,
or if you have facial hair and you can't get a good seal.
And that happens a lot in healthcare.
And so, that's a situation where we go and choose a PAPR instead.
There are many different types and styles of PAPRs, and they all have their pros and cons.
A few of the common ones that you might see are a loose fitting hood.
A tight, full face covering, and a helmet style.
You don't have to be fit tested for one of these PAPRs,
especially with the loose fitting headgear.
Though you still need to be medically cleared and trained to use them.
So it's not as if you just put it on and go.
It does take a little bit of making sure that you know what you need to do
so that the air is filtered appropriately.
Loose fitting PAPRs can be worn if you have facial hair,
which isn't the case with other types of respiratory protection, like N95s.
So they're great for that.
And then, the types of hoods with full face coverings and helmets
also protect your face from splashes and sprays, and that includes your eyes,
so that it can serve as your eye protection as well.
Loose fitting PAPRs are commonly used in healthcare,
but allow your unfiltered breath to come out.
So if you're infected with a virus like SARS-CoV-2 that spreads by respiratory droplets,
then there is a risk that you could infect others even though you're using a PAPR,
because your own breath goes out into the air unfiltered.
You might see elastomeric half-mask and full-mask respirators.
These are respirators that can be cleaned, disinfected, stored and reused.
And so they tend to be a little bit bigger and bulkier than other respirators you might use.
The half-mask respirators cover just your nose and mouth, and the full ones include your eyes.
And they have cartridges on the sides, or filters on the sides,
that can be replaced when they're dirty, or to change the level of filtration.
Because they have a snug seal to your face and because that seal is important,
these also need fit testing before you can use them.
No matter what type you use, your respirator should be approved by NIOSH,
that is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
And they also have to authorized for use in health care by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA has put out an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA.
That allows all NIOSH-approved respirators, air purifying respirators,
to be used in a health care setting.
So for now, any NIOSH-approved air purifying respirator can be used in health care, according to the FDA.
And that includes the respirators that we just covered.
Your employer is responsible for providing you with a respirator,
making sure you are medically okay to use it, and that you can use it correctly,
that you're fit tested if you need it, and that it's been approved by NIOSH
and falls under that FDA Emergency Use Authorization.
To sum it up, there is more than one type of respirator that we use in health care
and we've put links in the comments below
to give you more information on each type, if you're interested,
and to talk a little bit about how to identify those that are NIOSH-approved, NIOSH-certified equipment.
So, don't hesitate to look down in our comments. If you haven't already, follow us on Facebook and Twitter,
and as always there's our website, CDC.gov/ProjectFirstline
We look forward to seeing you all with the next episode.