Crisis Conservation Strategies No Longer Needed for Surgical Masks and N-95 Respirators

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a "situational update" to announce that the availability of facemasks and respirators approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has increased significantly over the last several months. Health care facilities should no longer be using crisis or contingency capacity strategies for these items and should promptly resume conventional practices.

Specifically, health care facilities should no longer purchase respirators that are not NIOSH-approved for use as respiratory protection. They should consider using any that have been stored for source control where respiratory protection is not needed. Respirators that were previously used and decontaminated should not be stored. Health care facilities should return to using only NIOSH-approved respirators where needed. This guidance is supported by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) letter to providers recommending that health care personnel and facilities transition away from using non-NIOSH-approved respirators and from utilizing decontamination and bioburden reduction systems. The FDA also hosted a webinar on this transition.

The CDC guidance does not provide a great deal of detail concerning the return to conventional practices for facemasks and how facemasks should be used under conventional practices during the pandemic. It simply says that masks should be used "according to product labeling and local, state, and federal requirements." It does not indicate the "conventional practices" that apply in the context of COVID-19 and whether re-use or extended use are still permissible. Providers are urged to work with their infection control professionals to develop practices that makes sense for their organizations and the people they serve. LeadingAge NY will be seeking additional guidance on this issue.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8838 or Dawn Carter, dcarter@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383