Also, just to add, that in the height of the craziness for us (and some, elsewhere, are now back to that experience
again 
), it is hard to convey how insane it was at times in the Covid ICUs. Everyone involved in caring for patients had to be trained to don and doff, ie to put on PPE and take it off, and each instance of donning and doffing was also a big production, with others (clinicians, but often whose usual job was not bedside care) there, whose sole assignment was to watch caregivers don and doff to make sure they were doing it correctly so as to protect the wearer - each and every time a caregiver had to enter or leave a patient room, often with a two patient or more assignment. So constantly in and out of multiple rooms, taking time to don and doff (up to several minutes going either in or out), with an observer, over and over again on a 12 hr shift. It was extremely cumbersome, But here’s my point. Peoples’ stuff was everywhere. Hooks were installed on walls in order to hang PPE (face shields, which we had to wipe down after each use with sterillizing wipes, and regular surgical masks) on, and tables placed outside rooms for the same (for N95 bags and containers). Outside of rooms we wore surgical masks. Before donning PPE, the surgical mask had to come off and be hung up on either a hook or an IV pole, to be put on again after doffing. (Those were conserved as well, one per shift unless soiled or broken.) Adding a second surgical mask for everyone going in and out of these rooms to “put aside” would’ve made things even more chaotic - how are you sure which one was the “clean“ one and which one was the “dirty“ one? Mark it? OK, but let’s just say this was not an environment where everything was neatly organized and controlled - it was insanity at times! Alarms going off, you have to RUN into the room
after donning. Emergency in the room? Multiple people at once, in the same area, all trying to don quickly to get in there. And these were regular occurrences, all shift. You can see how things could get mixed up and having extra surgical mask around that were potentially contaminated could actually make things worse. This is why our policy was to just wear N95s by themselves with a face shield. That way we knew exactly what to be very careful with. Surgical masks worn outside were not likely contaminated with Covid (as those germs were kept inside negative air flow rooms with doors closed.) Whereas a surgical mask worn over an N95 inside a Covid room likely was contaminated. So let’s not mix these masks up. Sorry for the long winded explanation, but it‘s hard for people to understand what it is like trying to care for the sickest Covid patients. God Bless those who are back in those situations again!
