My Personal Fit Test

Hello, this is my seventh blog and I am almost done with the class. I have already learned so much. Today this blog is all about my experience with the quantitive fit testing. I walk into the lab and Dr. Moss has all the equipment laid out. He had all different types of gloves. He also had two different types of masks. He had the half face masks, and he had the full-face masks. The first thing I tried to do was try on and size the full-face mask. I tried the medium on first. There were problems with this one because it didn’t fit around my mouth. This meant that the medium was way too small. So, I then moved on to the large face mask. Putting it on first was very uncomfortable. It was itchy and I felt semi claustrophobic. I got used to it over time. After I put the mask on it was time for me to adjust the straps so I could form a seal across my whole face. This was difficult for me to do because I already had the mask on my head, so I had another person in my group help me out. There was a problem. We still could not get the masked fully sealed on my face. We decided as a group that it would be a good idea for me to just move to the half face mask. This one was a lot more comfortable and I also did not really have that many difficulties fitting it to form a seal. We then calibrated the fit testing machine. I hooked it up to my breathing apparatus and it was time to begin testing. The first test I did was the normal breathing. I passed that one was very simple. The next test was the heavy breathing. I was a little worried about the fit so I thought this was going to be an issue. I passed. The next couple tests were movement based. One was where I had to move my head side to side, the other was the one where I had to move my head up and down. I passed all of these tests as well. The next test I had to do was the reading test. This is where you are given a passage and you have to read it out loud so you can see if the seal is broken. I felt awkward reading it but I passed. The next test was where I had to bend over. The blood rushed to my head but I passed. The next test was the grimace test where I try to distort my face to break the seal . I passed. The final test was normal breathing again. Which I failed. But since I passed all of the other tests I passed the overall fit test. I loved this experience and I am glad I can put it on my resume. To learn more about the fit test click on the links below.