How to Gather Disposable Dust Masks for an Emergency

By anniewrites, eHow Member

Disposable Dust Masks

Make sure to include disposable dust masks in your emergency preparedness stash, as you never know when conditions will arise that make breathing risky. In an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, fire, or attack such as 9-11, materials that are hazardous to your health can be released into the air. It can be difficult to run for cover or help your children if you are gasping for air. Disposable dust masks are an inexpensive item that can help you with this problem. They are especially important for anybody that has asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, or other lung related diseases.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step 1: First, check to see if your emergency survival kit already contains disposable dust masks, and if so, how many. If you do not have an emergency survival kit, you ought to think about getting one in the right size for your purposes, as so many of the items you might need in a disaster are already included for you so that you do not have to think about every little detail of what you might need.

Step 2: Once you have determined how many disposable dust masks are already included in your emergency survival kit, determine if you might need additional masks. For instance, if your emergency survival kit contains 10 dust masks but you want enough to provide two dust masks a person to 20 people (so 40 dust masks), then you will need to purchase 30 additional dust masks.

Step 3: Finally, figure out what kind of disposable dust masks you would like to purchase. If your budget is short or you are buying masks for large numbers of people (like a church or school), then you will likely want to stick with the basic disposable dust masks that most emergency preparedness suppliers carry. They generally come in packs of five for under a dollar. This means that you could purchase the 40 disposable dust masks needed for 20 people for under $8. If you want something more heavy duty, a 20 pack of decent 3M dust masks runs about $33, or $66 for the 40 masks you would need to purchase for 20 people. Neither budget option is too shabby for the peace of mind that comes with knowing you will breathe easier during a disaster!