5 ms·

I really want to hear the back story on this. Who is the distributor? Why did they end up at a Target? I'm betting the distributor tried to sell them to hospita

by erentz 7y ago

I really want to hear the back story on this. Who is the distributor? Why did they end up at a Target? I'm betting the distributor tried to sell them to hospitals but the hospitals said they weren't appropriate/certified for medical use so couldn't take them? Not much to go on from a tweet but definitely needs investigating.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
The respirators in question have exhalation valves[1], so they definitely wouldn't be normally certified for medical use. [1] https://twitter.com/anndornfeld/status/1241372544764006400/photo/1 https://twitter.com/anndornfeld/status/1241372544764006400/p...
- oasisbob 7y ago
  That's a good point. Guessing the fix is to tape over the port?
- kps 7y ago
  Looked this up… “Respirators with exhalation valves can be used in a healthcare setting when it is not important to maintain a sterile field (an example of an acceptable practice would be when taking the temperature or blood pressure of a patient). Respirators with exhalation valves should not be used in situations where a sterile field is required (e.g., during an invasive procedure in an operating or procedure room) because the exhalation valve allows unfiltered exhaled air to escape into the sterile field.” https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/respsource3healthcare.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part...
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    Interesting. It still seems like these respirators would have been earmarked for industrial use, but I didn't realize they could normally be used in healthcare at all.
porknubbins 7y ago
There’s this idea thats not even close to correct that we as a country have somehow tracked and accounted for all masks. Someone sent me some N-95 masks like around 9 days ago (which I didn’t ask for) which they got from industrial suppliers. This is a coordination and information problem not a capacity issue so I expect to see more like this.

by erentz 7y ago

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago

The respirators in question have exhalation valves[1], so they definitely wouldn't be normally certified for medical use. [1] https://twitter.com/anndornfeld/status/1241372544764006400/photo/1 https://twitter.com/anndornfeld/status/1241372544764006400/p...

oasisbob 7y ago
That's a good point. Guessing the fix is to tape over the port?
kps 7y ago
Looked this up… “Respirators with exhalation valves can be used in a healthcare setting when it is not important to maintain a sterile field (an example of an acceptable practice would be when taking the temperature or blood pressure of a patient). Respirators with exhalation valves should not be used in situations where a sterile field is required (e.g., during an invasive procedure in an operating or procedure room) because the exhalation valve allows unfiltered exhaled air to escape into the sterile field.” https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/respsource3healthcare.html https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part...
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  Interesting. It still seems like these respirators would have been earmarked for industrial use, but I didn't realize they could normally be used in healthcare at all.

porknubbins 7y ago

There’s this idea thats not even close to correct that we as a country have somehow tracked and accounted for all masks. Someone sent me some N-95 masks like around 9 days ago (which I didn’t ask for) which they got from industrial suppliers. This is a coordination and information problem not a capacity issue so I expect to see more like this.