Can Florida lead the nation in volunteers sewing masks for medical personnel? Yes, there is a shortage of N95 masks and hospital personnel often reuse their N95 masks during shortages. Florida can help. The faster we help our state, the faster we restore the lives of everyone. Even if you don’t sew, you are still needed to put out the call for fabric, cutting the patterns, making phone calls and even deliveries.
This is our moment, this is our duty, this is our safety.
READ ON…
So, we need masks. After much searching, I found an instructional video for sewing masks to meet the requirements of medical personnel including reference to the CDC.
In this video I’m going to show you how to sew a reusable face mask with filter pocket. This medical face mask can be sewn in 5 minutes! Great mask pattern to batch sew masks for hospitals quickly. These mask are super comfortable to wear by themselves (with or without the filter), over the top of hospital PPE masks and are made of washable materials. No elastic, no pleats to sew, have a flexible nose band and fit the face really well. No ear pain since the straps do not sit directly behind your ear-making it ideal for those 12+ hour shifts. Great beginner sewing pattern. Disclaimer: These masks are not going to prevent you from contracting any sort of respiratory illness. They are meant to be used as a temporary solution and will only provide minimal protection.
Before beginning to batch sew masks, I highly encourage you to contact your local hospital, clinic or long term care facilities to see if they have specific types of masks they are looking for. I’ve heard many hospitals are only accepting specific masks types.
You may be asking about contamination in the sewing process. Okay, here is the answer for that:
The researchers published their decontaminating protocol so other hospitals can follow their lead.Using vaporized hydrogen peroxide, the researchers can kill microbial contaminants that lurk on the masks after they’re worn.It’s a method labs have used for decades to decontaminate equipment, said Wayne Thomann, director emeritus of the Duke Occupational & Environmental Safety Office. Now that procedure is used/applied for the N95 masks, yes. However, on a temporary basis until such time the N95’s get out into distribution, it behooves all of us Floridians to step up our game now to get back in the real game of life faster.
People around the country are sewing masks. And some hospitals, facing dire shortage, welcome them
(CNN)Crafty people are stepping up to create homemade masks for health care workers facing shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Volunteers across the nation have formed sewing groups, where they share patterns they think can best address the needs of medical workers. Using their sewing machines and piles of fabric, they work to make as many masks as they can to help hospitals in need of more supplies.“We’re the ones you want around in the apocalypse,” said Christine Cox, a volunteer in the Atlanta area who is helping with a local effort to create masks. More detail here.