A Bitter Pill

Today I went through fit testing.  No, I didn’t have to run a mile for time.  The fit test is to make sure that the N95 medical grade mask is working for my particular face.  My wife thought I was having a mask formulated just for me.  Nope, not that either.  It is to make sure the masks that we are using work for me.  Let me explain the process.

I first don this lovely head shield without a mask.  A canister is attached and a saccharine aerosol is injected inside.  Apparently, my taste buds don’t light up with this substance so instead of detecting a sweet substance, I received the alternate, bitter canister.  After determining that, yes I do taste/smell the aerosol, I cleansed my mouth and the process was repeated again but this time after donning the N-95 mask.  A larger dose of aerosol was injected into the hood and I was asked to nod up and down, then move my head side to side.  Lastly, I was asked to read a page of prose.  No bitter taste! I passed.

The aerosol is manufactured to be between 5-20 microns in diameter which matches the size of the tuberculosis bacillus as well as the SARS CoV2 virus.  If it fits well enough to keep out the bitter, it will keep out the nasty Coronavirus as well.  I felt comfortable using this mask before but now even more so.  Perhaps this was something that should have been done two months ago, but I am happy that I was able to do it now.

This whole shut down his been a bitter fit test for all of us.  Sometimes we have to go through the bitter to appreciate the sweet.  Because there have been so many who have been careful, we are now able to carefully open up.  Like a N-95 mask that protects a health care worker, our societal guidelines are protecting everyone.  May we all be fit and ready to move on to the next phase of opening back up.