I've had to visit our local hospitals several times in the last 4 months and I am gutted that most nurses and doctors are still wearing inferior green 'surgical' masks. These people are dedicated but not valued enough by the hierarchy......
Why on earth is it that I can buy the N(% masks from Amazon to name but one source but the NHS are not doing what they should do in supplying better quality protection for all those dedicated people...... Mr Hancock hang your head in shame because you are doing a lot but you could do better........
Best Wishes to all you hard working nurses and doctors who are neglected by those who are complacent.
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That is incorrect because I can assure you that a single mechanical filter (and that is what any singular sheet of filtration material is obviously works two ways and it cannot physically do any thing else.( That is if I was listening to my teacher 64 years ago at Nottingham technical school). That applies to multi layer filter material as well. Did you know that new research states that if zink oxide( the stuff on plasters) in suspension in clean water, finely sprayed onto the external surface of a mask & then allowed to dry, kills viruses in 30 minutes ? Impregnated masks and fabric are now being sold I believe.
If anyone cares to look at the Association of heating engineers topic on masks they have done several research papers on masks and filtration material it will enlighten the ones who don't know a thing about filtration.
Lets cut the Mumbo Jumbo/baloney out of this mask issue and for a start get the NHS workers wearing N95 masks at least and I mean the minimum protection that means that they will have 95 % protection. Not those with beards however who must 'get em off' to have a reasonable level of protection......
All mask wearers must make sure that they put their masks on so that it seals 100% to ALL the areas around the airways.
Thank you from a nurse😊You are highlighting exactly why so many of my colleagues are off sick. I got caught in the first wave but this time around things are much, much worse. What worries me is that there will be some people who think that having the vaccination equals relaxing the stringent measures. However, it can still be caught and importantly can still be carried. I am expected to wear a mask even if out walking on my own and ended up buying my own supply privately so I can change them often. I would add to this that, as a nurse educator, it breaks my heart to see the pressure my students are under too.
I quite understand your reply.... I'm an engineer and one that has had to protect his airways and my son who was at the time only 16 when he came to work with me. I'm actually wearing his double respirator but with new pp3 particle filters screwed into the silicone facepiece.A lady at the vaccine site said to me surprisingly- why do need to wear such a heavy duty mask ?! I told her in no uncertain terms that her green thing was about 76% efficient and hers as well as ALL the other people in the room was the same I said I felt grieved for all the dedicated health workers given inferior masks.... I said this mask although it looks a bit llike a jet pilots mask is 97.6% efficient and that is why I wear it! She just said Oh......
The hierarchy must change their ways and get all the health workers the white N95 masks....
This is a must and I deplored the uneducated drivel that was profound from Day One
whaen they said masks do not protect the wear..... that is what the scientific blah blah blah.
Stupid people say stupid things and without a shred of conscience.
When I watch those frontline workers right in the midst of all those deadly molecules I wince.
Another important point is the men with beards.... ger em off. Anyway you keep safe and wear the white ones if you can. I feel it is imperative. I was in hospital for a week before Christmas and I noticed all the nurses and doctors had the green things on! At the side of my bed were white masks in a big plastic container and other surgical things... I thought what the B H are those doing in there?
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By the way.... I've just 'taken' to spraying my outer prefilters with a solution of 12mg zink chloride in solution of clean water to 100ml. I read an article by some researchers that said if zink Ch is on the outer part of any filter material it kills the virus within 30 minutes... I thought I'll get three 100ml spray bottles and give one to each of my sons and one for me and the missus...... She has now come to believe me when I said to her at the very beginning =this might be the year we die.
I remember way back when we first starting to hear about CV- 19 saying to my colleague, a doctor, that I thought this was going to become a pandemic. He thought I was quite bonkers. But I had this strong sense, call it intuition or something, that this was going to get bad. He now thinks I’m psychic haha. It has absolutely highlighted how unprepared the NHS was for this and how tight a budget it has had to work with over the past few years. I can tell you it relies heavily on the goodwill of the staff but we are beginning to get burnt out. You sound as though you really are doing your bit though to protect yourself and others. Don’t let it be the year you die though! Stay safe😊
To keep safe you must have intuition and perception and the ability to do what is right and know how to keep clear of those who cannot possibly learn.......It's usually those who spout drivel but if they think that not wearing any protection of the airways is OK then it may well be the fact that they will not exist long and will cause even more workload for the health services.
I mean those who first made mistakes and were telling us lot what to do which was entirely the opposite of what they should have been telling us was deplorable.
I am flabbergasted that it's taken 10 months for a health worker to say that all NHS staff should be issued with N95 masks.
Mr Whitty and Boris both caught the virus and yet they had the gall to advise us how to protect ourselves.
It has been said by many professional health worker in the USA (New York Times) that the advice re masks do not protect the wearer(boloney) was a blatant lie and that most people took no notice of that ill advise and that they said what they did to protect the stock of the few masks they had.....
The South Koreans did it right and just one of the directives from the government was that all masks produced must be held in their country and not sold elsewhere.
A computer repairer once said to me 'they' are 10 years in front of anyone else re technology in the world....... I didn't know that I said... mmmm.
It is interesting to note that on Friday UK nurses unions raised concerns with the government about the inadequacy of some aspects of PPE with surgical masks in particular highlighted. Apparently the new variant spores are more able to pass through the masks. NHS workers are catching it, more so since the original wave and some are dying of it. Ergo better protection is indeed needed.
I've seen your replies before and they simply do not make any sense. Can you explain then why some of those valuable workers are no longer with us. can you advise on the suitability of a mask quality on the level of protection? What sort of mask do you wear for instance......Are you in a technical capacity regarding filtration? Have you had any experience of Asbestos dust/particles and how to protect yourself and others against what is a terrible death as regards one of asbestosis's afflictions such as mesothelioma ? I have worked with such dangers have you? I'm 80 now and am still relatively fit. We've all been young and sometimes stupid and from your short comments that don't make any sense I would think you are quite young. If you think the green so called surgical masks are suitable protection from viruses then you are wrong. Also if you have a beard which is so popular nowadays that is even worse re protection because there is no way a mask can seal over the airways.......
I used to dive with beardies in our 'dive club' and their masks were always full of water. It's obvious why that is -isn't it?
This morning the photos on the internet speak for themselves regarding an article in the NEW Scientist of all addresses. There is a photo of a chap waiting to go into the Lords Cricket Ground to receive the Vaccine. He's reading a large paper and on the front page presumably there is an advert put in that paper by the government - reading Bending the rules costs lives...... Too right such as wearing an inferior green mask that he has on with a nice crease/fold going right onto his mouth parts......
There should be a national drive to wear better protection otherwise this epidemic will never be beaten. Protecting the airways of each and every individual is crucial to their well being. Not forgetting the other advice re hand washing and general improved cleanliness with bactericidal products.
At least the spraying of the exterior of masks with either IPA (isopropanol) with a bit of TCP in it or Zink Oxide powder in suspension in clean water in fact to make sure it's clean boil it then cool it.
I really hope people take notice of what they should be doing.... Doctors and nurses are humans facing a terrible job and it's getting worse.
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Interesting 'Information', from my Cousin.
The Calm Corner Update, Sunday 29th March 2020
A good friend on facebook sent me the post below, I think he has finally flipped, or maybe that's why he's my friend 🙉! 
A Year to remember.