PPE decontamination to overcome PPE shortage in rural area during pandemic

Abdurrahman Kharbat; Habib Abla; Mahmud Alkul; Ranger Kile; Justin White; Cynthia Reinoso Webb; Steven M Presley; Min H Kang

doi:10.1016/j.infpip.2021.100145

PPE decontamination to overcome PPE shortage in rural area during pandemic

Infect Prev Pract. 2021 Sep;3(3):100145. doi: 10.1016/j.infpip.2021.100145. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Authors

Abdurrahman Kharbat¹, Habib Abla², Mahmud Alkul¹, Ranger Kile¹, Justin White³, Cynthia Reinoso Webb⁴, Steven M Presley⁴, Min H Kang⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA.
² Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA.
³ Office of President, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA.
⁴ Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79416, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, 79430, USA.

Abstract

Despite remarkable developments in healthcare, the world was not ready to stop the spread of the novel COVID-19 pandemic almost a century after the great influenza pandemic. The explosive increase in the number of patients stalled the healthcare system, and the first and apparent issue was the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Our group established a system using a hydrogen peroxide vaporization method to decontaminate and reuse N95 respirators for healthcare workers. The system decontaminated over 12,000 units of PPE to cover institutions in West Texas. This service provided support at the most needed time during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hydrogen peroxide vaporization; N95 respirator; Personal protective equipment.