As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, health care workers and other front-line emergency workers have an ever-increasing need for special protective gear to keep them as safe as possible as they treat others with the virus. A number of IU entities, including the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, have teamed up to assist.
The university has answered the call for help in myriad ways, including donating special respirator-style masks stockpiled during the H1N1 outbreak. Efforts have included the donation of tens of thousands of the N95 masks, which fit closely to the face and filter out particles that would otherwise be inhaled by the wearer, according to Benjamin Hunter, IU’s associate vice president for public safety and institutional assurance and superintendent for public safety.