Alexandra Elliott, WVU BioSafety Officer (WVU Photo)
What’s the news?
Using decontamination tactics to help maintain PPE supplies, West Virginia University is working with the National Guard to decontaminate and disinfect thousands of masks to address PPE shortages in healthcare systems in the state.
The process starts as the National Guard gathers masks, drops them at WVU’s Health Sciences Center Environmental Safety for the disinfecting process and then collects them for redistribution.
Quotes and Comments
“We are currently using a Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) process provided by the WV National Guard, but we also have the ability to use a Chlorine Dioxide system. We have decontaminated over 2,000 masks already.”
“It seems most of the masks that we receive come from EMS and Nursing homes. We will also start deconning masks for our clinical faculty and students (Dentistry, CTSI, OT/PT, HPL), as well as Researchers at HSC this week.”– Natalie Caravasos, Assistant Director, Health Sciences Center Safety Office
Resources:
WEBSITE: WVU engineers, designer partner to test materials for surgical masks
WEBSITE: N95 mask alternatives
WEBSITE: WVU’s campus-wide effort in creating surgical masks
Target Audiences:
- General public
- Healthcare providers
- First Responders
- Long-term Care Facilities Staff
-WVU-
jac/06/04/20
CONTACT: Alexandra Elliott
BioSafety Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
304-293-7157; aaelliott@mail.wvu.edu
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