PanFlu-Ready Kits

These kits include enough disposable face masks, hand-sanitizer product (for office and purse/briefcase), disinfectant wipes and eye protection to sustain an adult through a 6-8 week period. As recommended by health authorities for business/industry and home settings. Not designed for application in direct health care settings.

An important tip towards making an informed decision when choosing pandemic kits for employees and their families:

Our Technical Advisors, including professional risk managers, business continuity planning professionals and safety engineers report that many businesses that operate in “non-health care” fields are being steered to purchase N95 “respirators” as part of their pandemic planning. Unfortunately, few of these suppliers are advising that per OSHA 29 (CFR 1910.134), medical evaluation and fit testing is required by employers offering N95’ s (even for voluntary use) to their employees. These employers must also adopt a formal/written respiratory protection program when choosing “respirators” vs. disposable surgical “masks” that are of high quality. Additionally, employees with facial hair would not pass a fit test to use the N95’s without taking measures like coating their beards with Vaseline or similar products and any employee that has a compromised respiratory system generally should not be wearing a “respirator”.

Fortunately, for most non-health care businesses this should “not” be a concern as the CDC, OSHA and other recognized authorities “do not” recommend N95 respirators outside of high risk environments like direct health care or those working directly with poultry. For most other businesses (moderate or low hazard per OSHA), quality disposable surgical masks that have a Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) rating of >97% are recommended. In many states, employers can provide these masks to employees with training only including distribution of the manufacturer’s recommendation for the mask’s fit, use, care and disposal. Check with your local OSHA or State Plan office for specifics before your purchase. Respirator training and implementing a formal respiratory protection program, as required when respirators are put into use can be costly, not to mention a challenge when employees who are not used to wearing such personal protective equipment (PPE) during their employment are suddenly asked to do so as part of a pandemic plan. Several credible websites (not suppliers of respirators) provide mask guidance for non-health care application including www.metrokc.gov/health/pandemicflu/business/masks.htm

Emergency-Ready’s staff has tested numerous disposable surgical masks for use in the non-health care environment. We have chosen the 3M “standard protection mask” which has a >99% BFE. This mask also tested much better than N95’s when the ability of the wearer to verbally communicate was considered (by phone or in person) as well as the ability of the employees to wear them for extended periods. Being able to converse without extraordinary effort is a prerequisite for most businesses when choosing the proper protection against flu spread.