N95 RESPIRATOR USE, DISINFECTION AND RE-USE: WHAT THE LITERATURE SAYS

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Healthcare workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic are facing many challenges.  One challenge has been the shortage of N95 respirators. Best practices may help conserve respirators during this pandemic and ensure the safety of the healthcare workers. Also, faced with the shortage of N95 masks, healthcare workers are having to wear masks for extended periods or re-use masks.  Community groups are making hand-made masks from cloth/other material.  We will discuss the guidelines for emergency contingency, resources and what the literature says.

Disinfection

Over the past decade there have been a few insightful studies published in the peer-reviewed literature indicating that germicidal UV and microwaves can be effective at disinfecting N95 full facepiece respirators to reduce the risks of re-using them in a crisis.  This presentation will give a brief introduction to UV disinfection and its key considerations, followed by a review of what this published literature suggests can be done.  An alternative disinfection method, microwave generated steam, will be reviewed also, although the literature is less extensive for this approach.

Learning Objectives

1. List current recommendations for N95 use, extended use, and reuse
2. Emergency contingencies when supplies are depleted in a pandemic
3. When to discard N95 masks
4. Understand how germicidal UV operates and its key parameters
5. Considerations and efficacy for N95 mask UV disinfection
6. UV effects on N95 mask performance
7. Potential use of microwaves for disinfection