Respirators,
also known as face masks, are materials used to keep emergency and healthcare
workers safe from infectious chemicals and particles. When it comes to N95
respirators they can play a crucial role in protecting the wearer from
spreading or inhaling infectious particles to the environment. so, if you want
to protect yourself from spreading or acquiring an infectious illness from the
environment, then N95 respirators can work perfectly with you. Do you want to
know how respirators work? Worry no more as this article has got you covered.
Working
of a respirator
A
respirator is a specially designed product meant to cover the nose and mouth.
This prevents an individual to inhale lethal airborne substances, such as
infectious chemicals and particles. Typically, respirators are specially
designed each with specific qualities of working in a specified scenario. Here
are some of such respirators.
Escape
respirators
These
kinds of respirators are mainly meant to protect the wearer only in an emergent
situation, such as fire or immediately after the release of chemical vapors.
They are mainly meant to protect an individual to move from a harmful
environment to a safe area. This is a clear indication that they are designed
to be worn for a short period, which normally goes for up to one hour.
Gas
respirators
These
kinds of respirators are mainly meant to clean chemical gases out of the air
when an individual is breathing. They are meant to keep away infectious
biological and chemical substances, but there is no cartridge for keeping the
wearer away from all substances. This means that a gas mask can only be
effective when used with the cartridge for the hazardous substances that you
could be facing.
Powered
air-purifying respirator (PAPR)
The
filters found in PAPR are just like the ones found in gas respirators. The only
difference found here is that it uses the fan to blow the air through the
filters. It is important to keep in mind that many N95 face masks lack this
feature.
Particulate
respirators
These
kinds of respirators are specially designed to protect the wearer against
airborne particles, but not gases, chemicals, or vapors. For instance,
healthcare professionals use N95 masks to clean the air as it cleans the air
being breathed as well as protecting them from infectious particles such as
coronavirus.
How
respirators protect healthcare workers
Respirators,
such as the ones found in N95 face masks protect the healthcare workers from
taking in infectious particles while treating patients with contagious infections.
This is why they have widely been used during coronavirus outbreak. Typically,
this kind of mask is intended to be one-time use, meaning that doctors need one
when interacting with each patient.
