Surgical mask barrier apparatus

Claim 1

A surgical mask barrier apparatus for preventing infectious hazardous material such as HIV infected blood, and other contaminated body fluids from penetrating through a cup-shaped conventional surgical respiratory mask wherein said surgical mask barrier apparatus cooperates with said conventional surgical respiratory mask of the type worn by medical personnel during surgical procedures, said apparatus shielding the underlying conventional surgical mask, and in turn, the wearer from contact with infectious hazardous material which typically splatter onto a conventional surgical respiratory mask during invasive surgical procedures and which would otherwise soak through said conventional surgical respiratory mask thereby infecting the wearer with any virus, bacteria or carcinogen carried by said contaminated body fluids, said surgical mask barrier apparatus comprising: separate, substantially non-porous shielding means that abuts but is not affixed to said conventional surgical respiratory mask and having an internal side and an external side opposite to said internal side, said internal side of said substantially non-porous shielding means juxtaposed to said conventional surgical respiratory mask, wherein said external side of said substantially non-porous shielding means is positioned in exposed relationship to the source of said infectious hazardous materials, said substantially non-porous shielding means having substantially the same pre-formed cup-shape and contour as said conventional surgical respiratory mask so as to facilitate the juxtaposition of said conventional surgical respiratory mask with said substantially non-porous shielding means, said substantially non-porous shielding means further having an overall surface dimension greater than that of said conventional surgical respiratory mask so as to completely enshroud said conventional surgical respiratory mask when said non-porous shielding means is positioned juxtaposed thereto; spacing means operably associated with said substantially non-porous shielding means for providing air passages between said conventional surgical respiratory mask and said internal side of said substantially non-porous shielding means when juxtaposed thereto, towards allowing the entry of oxygen and the exit of carbon dioxide during normal breathing of the wearer; carbon dioxide absorption means operably positioned between said internal side of said substantially non-porous shielding means and said conventional surgical respiratory mask, said carbon dioxide absorption means serving to absorb accumulated carbon dioxide; positioning means operably associated with said substantially non-porous shielding means for retaining said substantially non-porous shielding means in juxtaposed orientation to said conventional surgical respiratory mask, said substantially non-porous shielding means thereby cooperating with said conventional surgical respiratory mask, to, in turn, prevent said infectious hazardous materials from contacting and soaking through said conventional surgical respiratory mask to, in turn, protect said wearer from said infectious hazardous materials.