Some emergencies could pollute the air. For example, flooding could create airborne mold that might make you sick, and an explosion can release very fine debris that can cause lung damage. A biological terrorist attack might release germs that can make you sick if inhaled or absorbed through open cuts. Many of these agents can only hurt you if they get into your body, so think about creating a barrier between yourself and any contamination.
Creating a barrier for your nose and mouth
Get face masks or dense-weave cotton material. Make the best fit possible for both children and adults to ensure that air comes through the mask or cloth and not around it
Be prepared to improvise with what you have on hand to protect your nose, mouth, eyes and cuts in your skin. Anything that fits snugly over your nose and mouth, including any dense-weave cotton material, can help filter air particles in an emergency. It is very important that most of the air you breathe comes through the mask or cloth, not around it.
Do whatever you can to make the best fit possible for children. There are also a variety of face masks readily available in hardware stores that are rated based on how small a particle they can filter in an industrial setting (an N95 rating is best).
Given the different types of emergencies that could occur, there is not one solution for creating a barrier between yourself and any contamination in the air. For instance, simple cloth face masks can filter some of the airborne contaminants or germs you might breathe into your body, but will probably not protect you from chemical gases. Still, something over your nose and mouth in an emergency is better than nothing. Limiting how much gets into your body can impact whether or not you get sick or develop disease.
Creating a barrier for a room
You’ll need:
There are times when staying put and creating a barrier between yourself and potentially toxic air outside is a matter of survival.
Use available information to assess the situation. If you see large amounts of debris in the air, or if local authorities say the air is badly contaminated, you can use these things to tape up windows, doors and air vents if you need to seal off a room from outside contamination. Consider precutting and labeling these materials. Anything you can do in advance will save time when it counts.
HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration) Filter Fans
Plastic sheeting and duct tape will provide a better barrier between you and contaminants than nothing, but no seal is perfect and some leakage is likely. In addition, you might find yourself in a space that is already contaminated to some degree.
Consider a portable air purifier, with a HEPA filter. These highly efficient filters can capture very tiny particles, including some biological agents. Once trapped within a HEPA filter, these tiny particles cannot get into your body and make you sick. While these filters are excellent at filtering dander, dust, molds, smoke, biological agents and other contaminants, they will not stop chemical gases.
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