If you work in a healthcare facility, you must have seen the firsthand effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on Canada. There’s no method of care from large hospitals to small clinics that has remained unscathed from the virus.
This observation gets even more profound if you or your healthcare staff battle COVID-19 on the frontlines. You may have noticed how personal protective equipment (PPE) has become a critical part of your daily routine in such a scenario.
From gloves to face shields, you need an essential PPE supply to fulfil your duties without compromising your health. In this regard, a filtering face-piece respirator (FFR) holds the spotlight for protecting you from respiratory droplets. A KN95 mask Canada health organisations can trust quite an accessible choice in this scenario.
But seeing that it bears a different name than the N95 respirator, it brings many questions to your mind. Is it effective? Is it accessible? Is it on the same level as its more popular alternative?
To help you answer these questions and more, here’s a lowdown on a KN96 respirator and its related functions.
The KN95 Mask, Canada Health Experts Approve Of, Delivers Exceptional Protection
When you stumble upon the mere mention of the KN95, the first thing that comes to mind is the N95 respirator. The similar name, the mutual function, and the shared design all contribute towards making this connection.
For what it’s worth, putting these masks in identical boxes is not entirely unfounded. It’s because both of these masks fall under the same category of particulate filtering face-piece respirators. The only difference between them is that the N95 follows the U.S. standards for such equipment. Whereas, the KN95 adheres to Chinese standards in that regard.
This means that being in line with its more famous counterpart, KN95 also filters at least 95 percent of airborne particles for its wearer. This includes visible particles as low as 0.3 microns such as dust, fumes, and mists. This makes it an effective defence line against the novel coronavirus, where the 0.1 micron viral agents latch on to bigger particles such as respiratory droplets.
When a wearer breathes in through a professionally-fitted KN95 mask Canada health experts approve of. They can reduce the risk of contracting the virus through particles in the surrounding air. This makes the mask an excellent choice for healthcare workers who provide treatment to COVID-19 patients.
The Mask Follows Proper Standards for Protection
The KN95 respirator is fit tested, which means that it can become a proper fit to your face and create a seal against your skin.
This ensures no leakage around the edges of the mask that could cause unfiltered air to reach your respiratory system. Instead, the air you breathe in through your nose or mouth is effectively filtered through the mask’s filtration mechanism.
This particular fit-tested design is also similar to the massively popular N95. Typically, both types of respirators use two head straps that go towards the back of the wearer’s head, where they are fixed near the top of their head and the nape of their neck. However, some KN95 models use the ear loop mechanism as well.
Health Canada approves of both designs for a proper fit. But the organisation has observed that sometimes those KN95 respirators that have an ear loop design create issues with the proper fit. With that being said, it is still advised that if the mask comes from an approved manufacturer and a reliable brand, it can be worn for medical uses.
This means that as long as you choose a KN95 mask Canada health organisations trust for its functionality, you or your healthcare staff can wear it to treat your COVID-19 patients without any worry.
The Mask is More Accessible Than N95
One of the most glaring advantages of the KN95 respirator is that it is more accessible than N95. This particular benefit is the reason why there’s even a conversation around KN95 in Canada.
While the respirator is made under standards of a region other than North America, Health Canada has approved it for medical uses during COVID-19.
This particular advantage comes in quite handy during the pandemic, where a shortage of N95 masks has challenged everyone from time to time. If your healthcare facility is running short of this critical PPE in COVID-19 treatment settings, you can easily consider KN95 for the same purposes of safeguarding yourself or your frontline workers.
To make sure that you can make your KN95 purchases with reliability, Health Canada goes as far as to keep tabs on approved brands. The list of these manufacturers is regularly updated on the organisation’s website for healthcare workers and facilities to see. This ensures that you can check your chosen KN95 respirators’ efficacy before you order them from an online or brick-and-mortar supplier.
Depending upon the manufacturer and availability, the price for KN95 respirators also remains equivalent to N95 for the most part. This ensures that you don’t have to pay a fortune to access this PPE during such a critical time.
They Are Not a Replacement for Eye Protection
The novel coronavirus can enter our system through our mucous membranes. This means that apart from the nose and mouth, the virus can also breach our body through our eyes. A KN95 mask Canada health experts depend upon provides respiratory protection in a COVID-19 treatment setting. But it’s critical that you also invest in proper PPE for your eyes.
The recommended PPE for this purpose is protective goggles, which also fit around your eyes and create a seal against your skin. This ensures that COVID-19 virus particles don’t infect you through the mucous membranes in your eyes. As you invest in a proper mask such as KN95, it is also essential that you buy these protective goggles for yourself or your healthcare employees’ safety.
You may add a face shield to your PPE for further protection, which helps you stay safe from splashes and splatter. This particular equipment ensures that apart from your goggles and your mask, any sudden splash through patients’ sneezes and coughs don’t compromise your safety in a COVID-19 treatment setting.
Typically, you can purchase these face and eye protection items from the same vendor. But sometimes, you may need to look through different sellers to obtain all critical PPE.
By keeping these points in mind, you can get the most out of your KN95 respirator purchase and ensure proper protection for yourself or your healthcare staff during this critical time.
