PPE Shortage and a Decontamination Alternative

//Protection on the Frontline//

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an important item in protecting humans when working in hazardous conditions. Working on construction, in laboratories and other environments that impose health and safety risks will impose a level of PPE to help negate the probability of harm. From personal experience, I’ve spent hours within my lifetime going through safety assessments and discerning correct PPE for various situations. Safety is important and it’s a priority in any endeavour. If you’re working somewhere, it has to be safe. Planning, preparing and adapting through monitoring is an ongoing process that has been engraved into the way I work over the years. With frontline services battling coronavirus however, it’s apparent that most health care services around the world are not equipped to deal with such an epidemic of this scale. Discussion around the wearing of PPE, specifically respirator masks have been under way.

//Dealing With Shortage//

With such a huge shortage and limited flow of disposable respirators, shortages are heavily impacting those on the frontlines. Contaminants are caught in the filtration system, moisture droplets are the main spread of the virus and they have been essential in the fight against the virus. Surgical masks are estimated to provide around minutes of protection and N95/FFP3 are recommended for around 8 hours of usage. Factories are increasing mask production but the other angle that is being explored is disinfection and reuse. Tech companies have reshuffled their infrastructure to address current shortages too but what about places that don’t have the factories or materials to mobilize a production facility?

//Reuse Focus//

The FDA has been criticised for a delayed response on authorising the use of novel sterilization technology on N95 respirators. Each unit would provide over 80,000 units with disinfection and would act as an additional source of availability. I found a project from 2014-2016 exploring the use of hydrogen peroxide vapour to provide decontamination (check link below) and it would seem that respirator recycling has been on the table for quite some time. While quality control is another factor to consider when dealing with contaminated items that are vital, it might be a new direction that some companies consider focusing on. 80,000 per machine in a day will boost supply locally if the technology is available. Society has to use what it has discovered over the past hundreds of years to stand up during this time in need. Governments should support and act with urgency when reviewing science technologies that would possible contribute to saving the lives of not only those who have been infected, but also equip brave and hardworking frontline workers with the right tools.

Sources
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/n95-respirators-and-surgical-masks-face-masks
https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-regulatory-science/investigating-decontamination-and-reuse-respirators-public-health-emergencies#outcomes
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/29/21198715/fda-approves-battelles-decontaminate-n95-face-masks-coronavirus
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/private-tech-companies-mobilize-to-address-shortages-for-medical-supplies-masks-and-sanitizer/