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was associated with increased risk of complications of airway management, specifically desaturation and difficult facemask ventilation. We have been continuously wearing N95 filtering facepiece (FFP) or elastomeric respirators while providing patient care since the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. We have also advocated for anaesthetists to wear respirators while providing patient care on a universal basis, whether or not patients are known or suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 [2, 3]. Based on our personal experience and the literature describing the use of respirators in healthcare, we are sceptical of the results of the study by Potter et al., and we are unaware of any plausible explanation for an increase in complications of airway management depending on whether anaesthetists are wearing respirators or fluid-resistant surgical masks. The authors suggest that discomfort caused by wearing a respirator or difficulty in communication might be the explanation; in our personal experience, this seems very unlikely. Interestingly, a simulation study of the Australian Defence Force chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear air-purifying mask, which is a full-face elastomeric respirator, sometimes referred to colloquially as a 'gas mask', was

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