Should Reusable Respirators Be Used More Often in Healthcare Settings?

​Reusable respirators are an effective and viable way to protect healthcare workers from infectious agents and other airborne contaminants, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Use of half-facepiece reusable elastomeric respirators is standard in many other industries but rare in healthcare settings, according to the report. Reusable respirators could be useful in emergencies such as an influenza pandemic or a sustained outbreak of airborne transmissible disease, or during patient surges, the report says, particularly if they have already been integrated into a facility's day-to-day operations.