Personal protective equipment - some tips and suggestions

[Damocles]

So in this day and age, there’s been a lot of hullabaloo and discussion about the proper level of personal protective equipment one should have in their possession, and it’s not really a surprise why. With everything that’s happened in 2020 so far, from the Iran war scare, to the acquittal of the impeachment, to the arrival of the Coronavirus, to the anti-lockdown and George Floyd protests, to the economic collapse, there’s never been a more dangerous time in our lifetimes to be living in the United States. With these things in mind, if you could only pick three items to keep on your person, what would you pick? Given our current circumstances, I think the following are pretty prescient and good to have.

A medkit. It doesn’t have to be particularly fancy. It can be as simple as some gauze bandages, some, medical tape, some popsicle sticks for splints, and some analgesic gel. As far as why you might need this, well, the fact is, accidents happen. People slip and fall and eat sh!t. People cut themselves with knives while they’re preparing food. People might twist their fingers or twist their joints. Point being, there’s plenty of everyday situations where this sort of medkit might be useful. Even if you don’t know how to use everything in it, chances are, someone else nearby might. These things can fit in your jacket pocket and aren’t that expensive to purchase or maintain. It’s a sensible and perfectly fine thing to have.

A defensive weapon. This could be anything from a knife to a can of pepper spray to a stun gun to a concealed firearm, depending on your state and city’s local laws. We live in extremely volatile and politically unstable times, and besides that, many people get robbed all the time. Don’t let yourself be a victim of someone else’s selfish and criminal desires to take what doesn’t belong to them. That doesn’t mean be a hero and pretend as though you’re a sheepdog or something like that, but be aware and conscious of the fact that that can happen to you. You probably won’t need this for 99% of your daily interactions, but hey - it’s better to have it and not need it than to suddenly need it and not have it.

A cloth mask. The best ones you’ll find will have a double layer of cloth to cover your nose and mouth, two bits of wire to secure the fitment over your nose and underneath your chin, and elastic straps to go behind your ears and provide tensioning. We’re currently living through the worst pandemic to affect the United States in a century, and wearing one is far from the worst thing. The Coronavirus spreads mainly through aerosolized particles from your mouth and nose, and when worn properly, the mask protects you from 1) breathing in other people’s breath and aerosolized particles carrying the Coronavirus, and 2) breathing out aerosolized particles and inadvertently giving the Coronavirus to other people in the area around you.

What I specifically take issue with is the attitude towards the third item, which is of course the cloth mask. Some might attempt to argue that being made to wear a mask while in public is an infringement on their personal liberty, and I for one will have none of it. For one thing, there is existing Supreme Court precedent that states that during public health emergencies and weather emergencies, your personal freedoms are not absolute if that expression also endangers others and consciously ignores facts, evidence, and reason. Your personal freedom is not a license to be reckless or negligent in the context of others, precisely because your negligence infringes on other people’s right to enjoy the fruits of our free society.

If you were to seriously attempt to argue from a position of personal liberty, why then is it illegal to drive while drunk? Why is it illegal to negligently discharge a firearm? Why is it illegal to drive or ride in a car without a seatbelt on? It’s because as a society, there are certain norms and expectations that are expected of all, so that all may exist in a way that allows them to maximize their personal expression, and seek their own safety and happiness and fulfillment. It is also to prevent obvious and reckless negligence from causing more harm than would otherwise exist in such a society without these basic laws and protections in place.

I for one do not agree with every law that gets passed - far from it - but a blunt and blind disregard for such things as basic as looking out for one’s family or one’s neighbor, in spite of overwhelming evidence that contradicts whatever dogmatic and spurious arguments one may present to wearing a mask, is certainly something to be resolutely and absolutely condemned. This pandemic is an IQ test, and if you’re one of those people who continually argues that it’s somehow an infringement of your personal freedom to do something as simple as this, you have a fridge temperature IQ. I won’t be attending your funeral, and you won’t get to enjoy your precious freedoms when you’re six feet under from your own stupidity.

[Del Tachi]

There is no "overwhelming evidence" that simple face coverings work to inhibit disease transmission in community settings.

From the WHO's own 2019 report - while there is "mechanistic plausibility" that face coverings may impede the dispersion of respiratory droplets, their effectiveness preventing disease transmission in public settings has not been demonstrated empirically.  Theoretically, there is no reason to  believe that face coverings would significantly reduce disease transmission in situations where social distance is maintained. 

Public masking ordinances are an exercise in pseudoscience and security theater.  It's a way for powerless local officials to demonstrate that they are doing something to combat the pandemic, while not taking into account any of the science we have on whether such an intervention is actually effective.  To "resolutely and absolutely condemn" anyone who doesn't cave into the irrational panic justifying masking orders really just demonstrates how anti-rational the doomsday'ers actually are.

[Damocles]

[GP270watch]

 People know masks do something positive for plagues and pandemics for literally hundreds of years, even before they knew about germs, viruses, etc. See the Manchurian plague...

 Also nearly every ancient culture has used "ceremonial masks" for ritualistic cleansing, to ward off evil spirits. Maybe anthropologist misunderstood what the ceremony was actually cleansing and what the evil spirits actually were.

[Del Tachi]

A single .gif a scientific consensus does not make.

If your argument is that there is mechanistic plausibility that face coverings impede the dispersion of respiratory droplets, then let that be your argument.  Don't invent an "overwhelming consensus" that the public wearing of face masks significantly affects the progression of a pandemic.  The evidence says it doesn't.   

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/ToddThaGod/status/1281623716435316736

Stop f-ing around with ya'll health. This thing is not a joke, hoax, or conspiracy.

[Damocles]

https://twitter.com/ToddThaGod/status/1281623716435316736

Stop f-ing around with ya'll health. This thing is not a joke, hoax, or conspiracy.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/ToddThaGod/status/1281623716435316736

Stop f-ing around with ya'll health. This thing is not a joke, hoax, or conspiracy.

I deal in data, not anecdotes.

[GP270watch]

You deal in neither, don't kid yourself.

[ProudModerate2]

A single .gif a scientific consensus does not make.

If your argument is that there is mechanistic plausibility that face coverings impede the dispersion of respiratory droplets, then let that be your argument.  Don't invent an "overwhelming consensus" that the public wearing of face masks significantly affects the progression of a pandemic.  The evidence says it doesn't.   

No one is saying that it will "significantly affect the progression."
You are just like Fuzzy, and you intentionally distort what others are saying, and blow-up a comment (or image) in your favor.
Masks will help to contain the transmission. Period. Because this virus is so contagious, every little bit will help. Together with social distancing and keeping high-gathering events closed, it has been proven to make a difference.

Look at New Zealand. They did just about everything correctly from Day 1, including and most importantly, having competent national leadership. There was no ... 'injection' of disinfectant to 'clean' the lungs, BS.

New Zealand success story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53274085

[ProudModerate2]

The World Health Organization has changed its stance on wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. People over 60 and people with underlying medical conditions should wear a medical-grade mask when they’re in public and cannot socially distance, the WHO said. The general public should wear a three-layer fabric mask in those situations.

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200608/who-changes-stance-says-public-should-wear-masks