Healthcare workers are constantly working in a hazardous work environment to treat patients suffering from different diseases. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is their safety shield against harmful substances which may otherwise cause them to fall victims to deadly diseases.
Healthcare workers need to wear face masks, gloves, scrubs, and other protection accessories when working in the medical setting to protect themselves against harmful viruses and diseases. However, the dire shortage of face masks created a severe health safety risk to healthcare workers when the pandemic started. As a matter of fact, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowed the usage of cloth masks (which are low-grade masks) for healthcare professionals while performing low-risk procedures.
Repercussions of using low-grade face masks
While the low-grade face masks provided some extent of protection against droplet and airborne transmission of the virus, they were relatively ineffective in preventing the spread of Covid-19. In a short period after the CDC guidelines allowing the low-grade masks, many healthcare workers started to get infected. It provided evidence that using the low-grade masks was making healthcare workers vulnerable to the coronavirus. The lack of high-grade face masks and protective equipment proved to be fatal. As per the reports, almost 11% of covid-cases out of the country’s total covid cases occurred in hospital staff. The cases were higher in the healthcare workers who worked at the frontlines of treating coronavirus patients.
The federal authorities later ruled that healthcare workers must use surgical masks when treating Covid-19 patients. Although surgical masks are relatively high-grade, they are still less protective than N95 respirator masks, which provide the highest level of protection. This policy was employed to protect healthcare workers as the healthcare facilities faced a scarcity of protective equipment.
Importance of using high-grade N95 masks and PPE for healthcare professionals
The N95 mask is a type of respirator that can filter out both large and small particles during inhaling. It is considered to be a higher grade protective device for protection against infectious viruses such as covid-19. The N95 face masks are specifically designed to block up to 95% of micro air particles from reaching the mouth. They provide excellent protection against airborne and droplet-based viruses. They have been tested many times and proved to offer the most superior protection against the virus.
As medical facilities struggle with the short supply of N95 masks and high-grade protective gear, the CDC recommended keeping the supply reserved for health care providers. Similar to surgical masks, N95 masks are also disposable. However, research is ongoing to discovering ways to disinfect them safely and reusing them to combat the supply shortage.
As many health facilities are struggling to find reliable suppliers of high-grade face masks and protection accessories, you can always rely on the Elite Medical Accessories for a steady supply of FDA-approved face masks, PPE gear, and other medical accessories.
Elite Medical Accessories is a leading distributor of FDA-approved medical supplies such as face masks, gloves, and PPE gear. We are among the most reliable distributors in the U.S. that have been providing medical equipment and accessories to healthcare facilities across the U.S. for many decades. We have more than 20 years of experience sourcing and distributing high-quality face masks, gloves, PPE, and other medical accessories. Our expert team acknowledged the shortage of medical supplies and successfully sourced a sufficient inventory of medical supplies to fulfill the needs of healthcare professionals.
If you are interested in the bulk supply of face masks, gloves, PPE, and other medical accessories, Elite Medical Accessories is your trustworthy supplier for the highest quality medical supplies that adhere to the CDC guidelines.
Please get in touch with our team to learn more about our products.