Prepper Handbook Blog

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Medical Masks

In a Pandemic, it is critical to understand that different masks have far different levels of effectiveness, and that home made cloth masks are the worst.

During the COVID Pandemic, New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new signature look is a western-style bandana pulled up over his mouth and nose. No doubt he’s well-intentioned. But that kind of face-covering is only a hair better than no covering at all. Science shows it’s a mere 2 percent to 3 percent effective. It’s misleading.

N95 masks, which are molded and fit tight to the face, filter out 95 percent of viral particles, even the smallest ones. These masks offer the best protection, but when in short supply, public officials want them reserved for health care workers on the front lines, so they recommend the public NOT wear them. Again, it’s misleading.

Surgical masks, the kind you see commonly worn in hospitals and dentists’ offices, are flat and held to the face with elastic. They’re made from a nonwoven material, polypropylene, that is a somewhat effective filter. They protect the wearer from about 56 percent of viral droplets emitted by an infected person nearby, according to research in the British Medical Journal.

Do NOT reuse the mask and avoid touching the outside of the mask, because it’s likely contaminated after use.

If you have to resort to homemade barriers, keep in mind that the more layers of cloth, the better the protection. Four layers likely block out 13 percent of viral droplets, compared with the 2 percent blocked with a single layer, according to a study in Aerosol and Air Quality Research.

Getting everyone to mask up helps to protect the uninfected, and keeps the unknowingly infected from spreading the virus.

What’s was the root problem during the COVID Pandemic? Year after year after year, through three presidencies, federal health bureaucrats ignored warnings about inadequate supplies of masks and other equipment in the event of a pandemic. Ten federal reports sounded the alarm, even as the nation witnessed SARS, MERS, avian flu and swine flu that circled the globe. In 2009, during the swine flu outbreak, the federal Strategic National Stockpile dispersed 85 million N95 masks, as well as other protective masks. The masks were never replaced afterward.

Remember our Pandemic Lessons Learned: You cannot depend on the government and must take responsibility for the safety and security of you and your family.

For the complete story see:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-masks-what-works-rules-shortage-betsy-mccaughey

For more information:

Blog Table of Contents

Introducing Prepping to Skeptics

Pandemic
Prepper Sanitizer

Lessons Learned

Preparing Skeptical Loved Ones
Scenario 1: Pandemic

Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time

List of Top 10 Lists

Top 10 Prepper Websites

Preparing Skeptical Loved Ones

How do you help loved ones who won't prepare for themselves?

Prepper Supplies

Try again. After the Coronavirus (COVID) Pandemic, they are more likely to listen to you now.

In our Post: Introducing Prepping to Skeptics, we laid out some good ideas that I'd like to expand on here based on recent events.

Check on these skeptical loved ones periodically during a minor crisis. Demonstrate tactfully how preparing has you ahead of the curve, by helping them a little, but don't make their life too easy or let them think they can always depend on you for everything. Refuse to provide too much. For example, provide a few rolls of toilet paper along with a few reusable wash rags. When their toilet paper runs out, they will have to rough it a bit and use the wash rags.

After the crisis is over, send them a few more supplies, that they are more likely to appreciate now, where as before they may have resented it and thought you were an ignorant fool for prepping. They don't think that now! After a Pandemic scare for example, give them some Masks, Hand Sanitizer, Disinfectant wipes, and offer some suggestions on a few other inexpensive things they should consider buying and having handy like a gallon of Bleach. After any event, you can send them a can or pail of dried beans & rice or other long shelf-life foods.

In the spring, give them a few packages of seeds and suggest they buy a good garden hoe and plant a few vegetables in their flower beds. A Budget Garden is a good investment that can turn $2 worth of seeds into $200 worth of food.

In the fall, or at Christmas, give them a portable gas cook stove, with two propane bottles, and suggest that they buy a few more bottles.

You have their attention; now is your chance to convert them to being a Prepper. Just don't go too fast, and back off if they push back. Come bearing gifts, and its hard for them to get mad at you.

When they are ready, introduce them to our Beginner Prepper List post and help them develop a more comprehensive Prepper Plan that will allow them to advance one step at a time.

Good luck!