>> Welcome back, everyone, to Inside Infection Control, our video series here at CDC's Project Firstline. I'm Abby Carlson, I'm an infectious diseases doctor here at CDC. And it's great to have you here today. We have been talking about what PPE is and how it's important for infection control in healthcare. Now we're going to continue to talk about some specific pieces of your PPE. Today, we are looking at respirators. So, what is a respirator exactly? Well, the job of a respirator is to keep you from breathing in things in the air that might hurt you, like germs, chemicals, dust, and other dangerous things. Respirators are required in many different jobs, like some are used for construction and other jobs where you need to filter the air that you're breathing in. In healthcare, we use respirators when we think we're going to be in a situation where we could breathe in air that's carrying infectious particles like viruses. There are different types of respirators that you might see or you might use, and they may even look like ones in other jobs. But today we're going to talk about a specific type called air purifying respirators. These work by using filters or canisters or cartridges to remove dangerous things from the air that you are breathing in. They don't supply new air to you the way some other respirator types do. One type of air purified respirator is a filtering facepiece respirator, or FFP. And those are designed to be used once and then thrown away. Those respirators fit snugly against your face, covering your mouth and your nose and fitting just under your chin. The most common type that we use in healthcare is the N95. And because they're so common, we want to cover them in detail. So, we're actually going to talk about all those specifics in a different episode. For today, we're going to talk a little bit more about some of the other aspects of air purified respirators. One of them that's also very frequently used in healthcare is the powered air purifying respirator, P A P R, or usually known as PAPR. And that uses a battery operated air filter and blower to get clean air to you. The filter sits either in the belt pack or in the helmet by the head. And air is sucked in through that filter and pulled through a filtering cartridge or a canister, then blown into a mask that covers your entire face, or a hood that covers your head. Usually these are used for specific situations where there's more risk that you could be exposed to infectious things in the air, or if you have facial hair and you can't get a good seal, and that happens a lot in healthcare. And so that's a situation where we go and choose a PAPR instead. There are many different types and styles of PAPRs, and they all have their pros and cons. A few of the common ones that you might see are a loose fitting hood, a tight full face covering, and a helmet style. You don't have to be fit tested for one of these PAPRs, especially with the loose fitting headgear, though you still need to be medically cleared and trained to use them. So, it's not as if you just put it on and go. It does take a little bit of making sure that you know what you need to do so that the air is filtered appropriately. Loose fitting PAPRs can be worn if you have facial hair, which isn't the case with other types of respiratory protection, like N95s, so they're great for that. And then the types of hoods with full face coverings and helmets also protect your face from splashes and sprays. And that includes your eyes. So, it can serve as your eye protection as well. Loose fitting PAPRs are commonly used in healthcare, but allow your unfiltered breath to come out. So, if you're infected with a virus, like SARS CoV 2 that spreads by respiratory droplets, then there is a risk that you could infect others even though you're using a PAPR, because your own breath goes out into the air unfiltered. You might see elastomeric half masks and full mask respirators. These are respirators that can be cleaned, disinfected, stored, and reused. And so they tend to be a little bit bigger and bulkier than other respirators you might use. The half mask respirators cover just your nose and mouth, and the full ones include your eyes. And they have cartridges on the sides or filters on the sides that can be replaced when they're dirty or to change the level of filtration. Because they have a snug seal to your face, and because that seal is important, these also need fit testing before you can use them. No matter what type you use, your respirator should be approved by NIOSH. That is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. And they also have to be authorized for use in healthcare by the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA has put out an emergency use authorization, or EUA. That allows all NIOSH approved respirators, air purifying respirators, to be used in a healthcare setting. So, for now, any NIOSH approved air purifying respirator can be used in healthcare according to the FDA. And that includes the respirators that we just covered. Your employer is responsible for providing you with a respirator, making sure that you're medically okay to use it, and that you can use it correctly, that you're fit tested if you need it, if you need it, and that it's been approved by NIOSH and falls under that FDA emergency use authorization. To sum it up, there's more than one type of respirator that we use in healthcare. And we've put links in the comments below to give you more information on each type if you're interested, and to talk a little bit about how to identify those that are NIOSH approved, NIOSH certified equipment. So, don't hesitate to look down in our comments. If you haven't already, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And as always, there's our website, cdc.gov/projectfirstline. We look forward to seeing you all with the next episode.