Not exactly… medical n95s come in several sizes and medical personel that undergo “fitting” are just verifying which size works for them… there is no adjustment of the mask that occurs to actually “fit” it to them other than pinching the nose just like every other mask
Industrial n95s and kn95s are essentially considered to be one size fits all
As opposed to respirator fitting, where a significant percentage of the nursing population can’t be properly fitted. One of our nursing friends who is on the Covid response team in her hospital said about 25% of the nurses that wanted to be on the team didn’t qualify because they couldn’t be properly fitted with the respirator.
That’s the same thing… the n95 is “the respirator”
And yes some can’t achieve a good seal, just depends on the shape of their face… and if they can’t they have to wear the full hoods with air supply…
But the term “fitting” just means trying on the different sizes and seeing if they can smell fumes that the “n95 respirator” should filter out—- there is no actual physical changes made to the mask… it’s not like they’re customizing them to each employee
It’s a pretty stupid process really because all that it’s proving is that they self certified that they achieved a seal (by saying they couldn’t smell the scent) for that one particular moment in time. Highly over-rated
@Jen et al:
Here is some work out of McMaster University in Canada that talks about using spunbond polypropylene as a filter inside “pocketed” cotton masks.
I have been using a section of a HEPA filter bag that goes into a vacuum cleaner. Note: that was a brand new filter … not one that I took out of my vacuum cleaner. Polypropylene is good, in part, because it readily acquired an electric charge that allows it to electrostatically attract and hold small airborne particles.
Note: HEPA filters designed for industrial applications (clean rooms, etc) should NOT be used as they tend to use fiberglass thick can shed small, dangerous particles.
Stay safe!
John
yeah they just put your head in a plastic container and spray some sweet/bitter stuff inside and ask if you can taste it… Fit just means picking from a jar of small, medium, or large, or whatever the size options are…
Yah - I was wondering about the ‘mask on chin’ effect as well. All the coaches do it. My theory is that they need the players to ‘read their lips’ as they call plays etc. So the NCAA must have allowed them to pull their masks down. They are usually pretty good about putting them back over their mouths after they’ve finished yelling.
It does seem absurd, but, as with many absurd things, probably a compromise between the pandemic requirements and the job requirements of being a college coach.
Sad to see Gonzaga get beaten so decisively by Baylor. At least in that game, there was no question about who was a better team.