Curiously Awesome

Preparedness is good. But ill-informed preparedness is a waste of time and money. There’s a lot of ill-informed preparedness happening right now.

Let’s talk about all those people buying N95 masks. They think wearing a mask protects them from swine flu. The mainstream media is perpetuating this misinformation.

Did you ever notice that health care workers wear surgical masks that are very similar to the N95 face masks? Have you considered why they are wearing those masks? Are they wearing masks to protect themselves from the patient’s germs? No…they wear those masks to prevent their own germs from harming the patient.

N95 masks have one purpose. To prevent the wearer from infecting others. They work by preventing virus-carrying particles from becoming airborne. If the wearer sneezes or coughs their fluids will be trapped in the mask and will not infect others. These masks have no ability to protect the wearer from other people’s airborne germs.

When you inhale while wearing this mask, the air you’re inhaling enters through gaps on the sides of the mask. Some masks protect you from airborne bacteria and viruses and others protect you from chemical fumes. You need to know what you’re buying and what it’s rated for.

If N95 masks were effective for protecting people from airborne biohazards, then the US Army would use these low-cost N95 masks for their soldiers instead of the more expensive full-face gas masks they use. The reason full-face gas masks are used by soldiers is because they work to protect from airborne contaminants. If your goal is to stay alive, you don’t want a N95 mask.