I tried to follow the link that was posted to Dr.Jim Meehan’s Evidence Based Scientific Analysis of Why Masks are Ineffective, Unnecessary, and Harmful but that page on his website has been removed. I was able to follow some links quoting from it.
“Unlike the public wearing masks in the community, surgeons work in sterile surgical suites equipped with heavy duty air exchange systems that maintain positive pressures, exchange and filter the room air at a very high level, and increase the oxygen content of the room air. These conditions limit the negative effects of masks on the surgeon and operating room staff. And yet despite these extreme climate control conditions, clinical studies demonstrate the negative effects (lowering arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide re-breathing) of surgical masks on surgeon physiology and performance.”
There is no additional oxygen added to room air in theatres in UK. They are positive pressure environments and the air is filtered of dust etc with high cycling rates. They are hardly “extreme.” I’d really like to see the clinical studies where they found lowered arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide re-breathing from using surgical masks. If this were a thing I am sure that the thousands of theatre nurses, dentists, surgeons etc would be concerned about it. I have never heard of this and have never experienced deleterious effects apart from the trivial annoyance.
“Surgeons and operating room personnel are well trained, experienced, and meticulous about maintaining sterility. We only wear fresh sterile masks. We don the mask in a sterile fashion.”
Fresh sterile masks? What a laugh. In UK hospital theatres (and Australia) masks are in boxes in operating theatres and changing rooms. They are not sterile, just socially clean from the box. I’d be intrigued to know how Dr.Meehan sterilises his face because as soon as he puts a mask on his face sterile or not it is no longer sterile. Because you cannot sterilise your face/head short of sticking you head in a bucket of betadine for 10 minutes. Impractical.
