Sadly, many healthcare agencies and employers still want healthcare workers to use surgical masks instead of real respirators as protection for healthcare workers against airborne disease, such as the current swine flu outbreak. Why is healthcare so far behind the science in the area of healthcare worker protection? This is a short film of a 1918 parade in San Francisco, California on November 11, 1918, celebrating the end of WWI. Many of the marchers wore face masks for protection against flu epidemic. In an attempt to control it's spread, a city law had been passed making it mandatory to wear the masks in all public places. The city's mayor, with the backing of the Board of Health and the Red Cross, boldly declared, "Wear a Mask and Save Your Life! A Mask is 99% Proof Against Influenza." Citizens of San Francisco were reminded to don their masks through a popular rhyme of the day: "Obey the laws, And wear the gauze. Protect your jaws from septic paws." The debate over the value of the public wearing masks to protect against the flu is still being debated today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released interim advice to the public about the use of facemasks and respirators in certain public (non-occupational) settings during an influenza pandemic ([ Ссылка ] , but said that there is very little research about the value of masks to protect people in public settings. For more information about the flu, go to Flu Wiki ( [ Ссылка ] ). This film is from the Internet Archive.
