As one of the preferred equipments for respiratory protection, N95 filtered protective mask is widely used in the occupational protection of public health emergency personnel of disease prevention and control agencies (CDC), and its protective effect is directly related to the personal health and safety of emergency personnel. Previous studies have shown that the protective properties of filtered N95 masks mainly depend on the filtration efficiency of their filter elements and the suitability of the wearer to the mask.
N95 masks fit testing is a gold standard for objective evaluation of the actual protective effect of filtered protective N95 masks, and the United States requires enforcement of suitability testing. In practice, emergency personnel in the selection of mask products pay more attention to the material of the filter element and filter efficiency and other parameters, rather than the suitability test itself. Although emergency responders are required to wear air tightness tests before wearing filtered masks to ensure that they are worn correctly and with good protection, wearing air tightness is affected by the inevitable occurrence of head, neck or body movements during actual epidemiological investigations, on-site sampling and testing. Due to the lack of objective data support for suitability tests, emergency responders are unable to accurately assess the actual protective effects of wearing masks, and usually judge whether masks are airtense well based only on an individual’s subjective perception of the leak in the mask and head and face fit.
It is recommended that emergency personnel should correctly select and use suitable protective mask products based on suitability tests to ensure a high level of respiratory protection.
