Glove and Mask Removal Review

If you pay any attention to the numbers of blogposts for each month and year on the right sidebar, you’ve seen that those numbers are shrinking.  With a daily blog, those numbers should correspond well with the numbers of days in each month and year.  And they did until a few weeks ago, when I started removing the duplicate posts in preparation for the long-requested thumb drive/data stick.  (Gosh, I really hope those are the same thing.  If not, I will have revealed my total lack of technical competence yet again.  And if not, I hope someone will let me know.)

In deciding which of the duplicate posts to keep, I look at the comments.  If there are no comments, that post will be selected for removal, regardless of date.  If there are comments, then I have to read them to ascertain which to keep.  Sometimes the comments are merely expressing appreciation (which I appreciate!) and so can be deleted.  At other times, the comments contain valuable information that I don’t want to lose.  Sometimes both posts contain valuable comments, and then I have to copy comments from one and paste them in as a new comment on the article being kept.  And many thanks to the person who informed me that my inability to reply to comments on Blogger was a browser issue.  (Gosh, I hope that’s what it’s called.)

Anyway, one of those comments by our most prolific commenter, Anonymous (a medical professional, I assume), touched on the proper removal of exam gloves and masks, yet another topic not well covered in the off-grid medical texts. 

Glove removal

Grasp the wrist of each glove with a pinching movement, pulling off both at same time.  Drop them into a ready trash can. Then wash the hands thoroughly before touching anything else.

Mask removal

Don fresh gloves.  Now grasping the elastic at the back of the head and the front of the contaminated mask, remove the mask and drop it into the trash can.  Remove the gloves as above.  Wash the hands thoroughly. 

If there is any concern about communicable disease (and it’s still a good idea even if there is no concern), use soap and water to wash the face and hair.  Human hair provides very safe harbor for viruses and bacteria, and that’s one reason why surgical caps are used to contain it in the operating room and in contaminated areas.  I think I’ll add those to my next Amazon order.

Eye protection/eye glass removal

Have a dishpan ready with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.  Don fresh gloves.  Remove the eyewear and drop it into the dishpan to soak.  You’ll probably also need something to keep the eyewear submerged in the disinfecting solution.  Soak eyewear for at least 4 minutes.  Remove gloves as above.  Use fresh gloves to transfer the soaking eyewear to rinse water.

 

Yeah, it looks like I’m going to need more gloves.  With monkeypox coming on the scene here, it’s something for all of us to consider.  Even without monkeypox, we’ll likely be facing some kind of real pandemic in the not too distant future.  It wouldn’t hurt to prepare for it.

Links to related posts:

Personal Protection Equipment--Gloves and Masks