Best practice is to use new N95s. Decontamination does not solve the PPE shortage crisis, and is an emergency practice to beconsidered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efficacy and safety of N95 decontamination has not been fully characterized.

DONNING &DOFFING

COVID N95
DECON

This is an example process. Specifics will vary between hospitals. Relevant hospital personnel should be
consulted before any process implementation. This process can be used with an in-hospital, return to index user
decontamination method. It may not be compatible with external decontamination services.

DONNING

Labeled N95 FFRs

Each don/doff can reduce N95 fit. In one study the fit factor was observed to drop witheach don/doff, and after five dons was consistently below the OSHA standard of 100.1

If using a new N95, label with a soft-tipped permanent marker:
First initial and last name
Transfer Station location code*
If using a decontaminated N95:
Retrieve N95 from your spot in the CLEANED section
Inspect for damage or elongated straps and dispose ofdamaged N95 respirators
Add a tally mark on the N95 to indicate anotherdecontamination cycle has been performed
Don PPE according to institution guidelines
3,4
Perform a user seal check
Perform hand hygiene before donning further PPE

Different hospitals have chosen to label either theN95 facepiece or strap.6 The effect of labeling on
N95 integrity or decontamination is unknown.

4CDC user seal check with clean gloves

DOFFING

5

Improper doffing has been shown to expose the wearer to contamination risk.
Proper doffing must accompany decontamination.
Doff other PPE according to institution guidelines
For N95 doffing:
At Transfer Station, obtain a breathable bag labeled with firstinitial, last name, and Transfer Station location code
Put on clean gloves
Remove N95 following CDC guidelines 2,4
Only hold straps, do not touch front of N95 when doffing
Do not touch or allow potentially contaminated materials(such as N95 straps) to touch the inside of the N95 6
Inspect N95; dispose of it if damaged, soiled, or unlabeled
Place N95 into breathable bag, then place bag into assigned
spot in the DIRTY section
Perform hand hygiene before doffing any further PPE

Place both hands
over the respirator,
take a quick breath
in to check whether
the respirator seals
tightly to the face.

X

Place both hands
completely over therespirator and exhale.
If you feel leakage,there is not a proper
seal.

CDC N95 doffing with clean gloves

DO NOT TOUCH thefront of a used
respirator!
It may becontaminated.

Remove by pullingthe bottom strap overback of head,followed by top strap,
without touching therespirator.

*Transfer Station setup is described in N95DECON document 'Example Return to Index User Setup and Logistics'

REFERENCES[1] Bergman et al., 2012; [2] CDC Doffing: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/ppe-training/n95respirator_coveralls/doffing_16.html ;[3] OSHA Seal Check: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGXiUyAoEd8 ; [4] NIOSH Doffing https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010133/default.html ; [5] Brady et al., 2017; [6] UNMC Reuse Guide https://app1.unmc.edu/nursing/heroes/mpv.cfm?updateindex=132&src=yt
The Content provided by N95DECON is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE
PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE and IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALMEDICAL JUDGMENT, ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT. Use or reliance on any Content provided by N95DECON
is SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. A link to the full N95DECON disclaimer can be found athttps://www.n95decon.org/disclaimer.

v1.0 (April 17, 2020)4www.n95decon.org