A few days ago the CDC recommended wearing face masks. I ordered masks for my classroom a few weeks ago and they haven’t arrived yet. I *might* get them by May. In the interim I have cloth masks.
A few weeks ago I joined a local group sewing masks. The group went from a handful of members to over a thousand in just a few days. There are some super organized volunteers running this group who have set up a volunteer system of delivery hubs, runners, coordinators, and community liaisons to efficiently distribute thousands of masks to where they are needed. If you’re on the Seacoast and want to volunteer, or if you would like to help support our mask making efforts you can donate at www.SeacoastMaskMakers.org. In about 2 weeks we have made over 10,000 masks and distributed them locally to organizations in need.
As of this week I am going to ask providers attending classes to wear masks in class. I have been providing gloves since the beginning of this pandemic. I have lowered the max class size to 4 so we can stay 6 feet apart and no one shares any equipment. We’ve done creative things in class to meet the requirements of the AHA BLS Course Objectives. I have provided masks for the Team Dynamics exercise, but am now going to ask everyone to be masked for most of the class.
If you have your own mask, please bring it to class with you. I will have clean cloth masks to use if you do not have your own. I will collect them after the class to launder them. If you would like to keep the mask you borrowed I will gladly accept a donation to help purchase supplies to continue to sew masks.
I know it can be uncomfortable wearing a mask for a long period of time. However I think the benefits outweigh the discomfort and will help keep us healthy and safe.
