Adapting the Decathlon Group Easybreathe® snorkelling face mask for the safer administration of oxygen and/or continuous positive airway pressure and in the intra/interhospital transportation of patients with proven or suspected COVID 19 infection.

Abstract

Covid 19 disease, caused by the SARS COV2 virus, is highly infectious. Patients presenting to hospital suspected or proven to have this condition may be at risk of spreading the virus to visitors and staff. The Decathlon BreatheEasy snorkel mask has been adapted to both cover your face and, if required administer O2 or air pressure. This mask has been tested in a laboratory setting at Monash University to demonstrate its safety and it demonstrates a very low level of leakage. We believe the use of this mask on patients with suspected or confirmed Covid 19 disease may reduce the likelihood of transmission of Covid 19 disease to hospital workers and other patients. Currently there is no medical grade device designed to perform these tasks and consequently a non-medical device has been adapted. We aim to test comfort, tolerability adherence to usage of this mask in the clinical setting to determine its feasibility for more widespread use. This will help us to determine if this mask or a subsequent purpose build version with similar specifications will be able to be deployed in hospital settings on a larger scale.