Proper use of surgical N95 respirators and surgical masks in the OR

Details

• Personal Author:
  Benson SM ; Novak DA ; Ogg MJ
• Description:
  Proper adherence to infection control precautions, including appropriate selection and use of personal protective equipment (PPE), is of significant importance to the health and well-being of perioperative personnel. Surgical masks are intended for use as a barrier to protect the wearer's face from large droplets and splashes of blood and other body fluids; however, surgical and high-filtration surgical laser masks do not provide enough protection to be considered respiratory PPE. Potential exposure to airborne contaminants and infectious agents, including those present in surgical smoke, necessitates the use of respiratory PPE, such as a surgical N95 particulate filtering facepiece respirator. Filtering facepiece respirators greatly reduce a wide size range of particles from entering the wearer's breathing zone and are designed to protect the user from both droplet and airborne particles. Every health care worker who must use a respirator to control hazardous exposures in the workplace must be trained to properly use the respirator and pass a fit test before using it in the workplace. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Body Fluids Communicable Diseases Health Personnel Men Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Airborne-particles Author Keywords: Surgical Mask Body-fluids Breathing-zone Face-masks Filtering Facepiece Respirator Hazards Health-care-personnel Health Care Worker Safety Humans Infection-control Medical-personnel Particulates Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Respiratory-protection Smoke Inhalation Surgeons Surgery Surgical N95 Respirator Surgical Smoke

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• ISSN:
  0001-2092
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  457-470
• Volume:
  97
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042355
• Citation:
  AORN J 2013 Apr; 97(4):457-470
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  AORN Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:661162b2dec20ce81d078bbfb20a7d386d19912c2746d772adba8397fa0ff54df9bb68cce964f4fe29c196accc391bab072fe005bb88e62f73d10795c605ff2b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194597/cdc_194597_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 682.68 KB ]