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Mary and Matthew,
Thank you for your replies and information.
I called Rini Harris at BoundTree. They do not have surgical masks with ties. She said that they have one mask with ties and attached face shield (which would be fine), but it is currently not in stock. She is going to check some other options and get back to me.
I’m an OR nurse, so masks are something that I know a lot about. Surgical masks with ties fit closer to the sides of the face. Their construction is also are approved for protection of health care personnel; other face coverings (procedure masks with ear loops or homemade masks) are meant to protect others, not the wearer. My understanding of OSHA, NIOSH, and CDC recommendations is that in the event that nurses would be caring for someone with symptoms suggestive of COVID infection, the nurses should be provided with the appropriate level of PPE, which would be either a surgical mask with ties or a properly fit-tested N95 respirator. Our problem is that we have a number of volunteer nurses staffing our health center, each for a week or part of a week, and not all of them have been fit-tested, so we don’t know what sizes of N95 respirators to order for them. That’s why we are trying to find a source of surgical masks with ties.