Table 1.

Considerations in deciding to use powered air purifying respirators vs N95 mask as part of personal protective equipment for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) patients

Potential advantages of PAPR	Potential disadvantages of PAPR
Higher protection factor	May be more complicated than required for mode of transmission, leading to greater risk of contamination when removing PAPR
Full facial and head coverage	Higher cost compared with N95 respirators
More comfortable for prolonged resuscitations or transports and resistance to being accidentally dislodged	Inability to reuse disposable filters between patients, need large supply of filters
Eliminates N95 fit testing concerns (especially for those who cannot be successfully fit tested because of facial features)	Need explicit procedures for decontamination and recycling of blower units for next use
No need to maintain supply of variety of N95 respirators to meet fit testing requirements	Potential compromise of disposable components (e.g., hoods, hoses) through inappropriate attempts to sterilize and reuse if supplies run low, leading to infection risk
Can be used with facial hair or for staff who cannot be successfully fit tested	Communication challenges between staff due to fan noise
	Need for recurrent training of staff to maintain competence if not frequently used

PAPR = powered air purifying respirators