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By Dylana Kneeshaw

COVID-19 PROTECTIVE MASKS

Masks become key priority for Kamloops healthcare workers amidst PPE supply issues

Apr 6, 2020 | 4:48 PM

KAMLOOPS — Across Canada and around the world, getting ahold of adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers has become a concern. In Kamloops, healthcare facility staff are feeling the impact of the global strain.

Christine Sorensen, President of the BC Nurses Union, says masks in particular are in high demand, and health authorities around the country are trying to secure enough supplies to keep frontline workers safe.

“PPE is difficult to acquire. There are not enough, particularly N95 masks for nurses to be able to use to protect themselves.”

At Royal Inland Hospital and around Interior Health, staff have been asked to try to limit their mask use to one per shift. Sorensen says nurses are given new ones if their mask seal stops working, or it’s been soiled by patient fluids, but the situation is still not ideal.

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“They have to take the mask off to eat or drink,” she says. “At that time, that’s a high-risk time for doffing (removing PPE), or taking off a mask that is potentially contaminated, and they may touch it. And then trying to put that same mask back on and making sure that mask is not contaminated, or you don’t contaminate yourself.”

Community mask donations need to be checked over before use, but Sorensen says qualifying supplies are appreciated. Due to the depletion of N95 masks around the country, Interior Health Authority CEO and President Susan Brown says other options for keeping healthcare workers protected are being considered.

“Those can actually be re-sterilized and used for one additional time. So that is something that we’re embarking on right now.”

For the general public, wearing a homemade mask or covering has now been suggested by federal health officials as a way for people to keep their droplets to themselves, but Brown notes that there should still be a level of caution adhered to with that practice.

“When you’re not used to wearing a mask, sometimes I see people touching their face more. Which is really not helpful because obviously one of the things you have to do is not touch your face unless your hands are freshly washed. So people would just have to be cautious of that.”

People are asked to leave the N95 medical-grade gear for healthcare workers who desperately need it. With that, Sorensen says health professionals want to remind the public that a homemade mask does not give virus “immunity” to the wearer.

“It doesn’t mean we get to free-up and now go out and do more shopping and be with our friends because we have a homemade mask,” she stresses. “Homemade masks do not help with the spread of this disease. They help keep your droplets in and we hope that they reduce, but they don’t stop the spread of the disease.”

More people may be wearing masks during essential outings, but the BC Centre for Disease Control says right now the best way for the public to help curb the spread would be to stay home, physically distance, regularly clean surfaces, and keep up with frequent hand washing.