Respirator masks protect health but impact performance: a review

Abstract

Respiratory protective masks are used whenever it is too costly or impractical to remove airborne contamination from the atmosphere. Respirators are used in a wide range of occupations, form the military to medicine. Respirators have been found to interfere with many physiological and psychological aspects of task performance at levels from resting to maximum exertion. Many of these limitations have been investigated in order to determine quantitatively how much performance decrement can be expected from different levels of respirator properties. The entire system, including respirator and wearer interactions, must be considered when evaluating wearer performances. This information can help respirator designers to determine trade-offs or managers to plan to compensate for reduced productivity of wearers.

Impact of enhanced personal protective equipment on colonoscopy performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…PPE has been shown to negatively impact fine-motor skills required to perform procedures such as endotracheal intubation and intravenous cannula insertion [10]. FFP respirators result in an array of physiological and psychological effects, with prolonged usage interfering with respiration, thermal equilibrium, and vision [11]. FFP respirators also interfere with inter-professional communication between health care workers [12].…”

Practical considerations for performing regional anesthesia: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The combination of these factors can affect concentration and hence performance of RA techniques. [36][37][38][39] The execution of the nerve block may also be impaired by the proceduralist's unfamiliarity with using PPE during the procedure, and the time to do the block may thus be prolonged.…”

Substantiation of proposals on the use of insulating apparatus in the liquidation of emergencies with the release of hazardous chemicals

“…At the same time, in recent studies of issues related to ensuring the integrity of insulating devices, it is assumed that they must ensure safety under the worst conditions that can be during a fire. Proceeding from this, a change in the security of the gas defenders is considered depending on the type of the front part of the insulating apparatus [17], or how shortterm sucking increase inside the insulating apparatus, depending on the severity of the work [18]. Sometimes considered somewhat varies the security of gas defenders depending on the characteristics of the person (in [19] it is noted that the pits inside the apparatus vary with the presence of a mustache or beard).…”