Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an illness caused by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified as a cluster of respiratory illness in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, and has rapidly spread across the globe to greater than 200 countries. Healthcare providers are at an increased risk for contracting the disease due to occupational exposure and require appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 respirators. The rapid worldwide spread of high numbers of COVID-19 cases has facilitated the need for a substantial supply of PPE that is largely unavailable in many settings, thereby creating critical shortages. Creative solutions for the decontamination and safe reuse of PPE to protect our frontline healthcare personnel are essential. Here, we describe the development of a process that began in late February 2020 for selecting and implementing the use of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) as viable method to reprocess N95 respirators. Since pre-existing HPV decontamination chambers were not available, we optimized the sterilization process in an operating room after experiencing initial challenges in other environments. Details are provided about the prioritization and implementation of processes for collection and storage, pre-processing, HPV decontamination, and post-processing of filtering facepiece respirators. Important lessons learned from this experience include, developing an adequate reserve of PPE for effective reprocessing and distribution, and identifying a suitable location with optimal environmental controls (i.e. operating room). Collectively, information presented here provides a framework for other institutions considering decontamination procedures for N95 respirators. Impact statement There is a critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) around the globe. This article describes the safe collection, storage, and decontamination of N95 respirators using hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV). This article is unique because it describes the HPV process in an operating room, and is therefore, a deployable method for many healthcare settings. Results presented here offer creative solutions to the current PPE shortage.
【저자키워드】 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Personal protective equipment, Coronavirus disease 2019, Hydrogen peroxide vapor, filtering facepiece respirators, chemical indicators, biological indicators, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Respiratory illness, Novel coronavirus, Operating room, Spread, China, healthcare, Impact, implementation, Wuhan, Control, Cluster, PPE, hydrogen peroxide, distribution, information, disease, Critical, N95 respirator, healthcare personnel, HPV, Safe, N95 respirators, acute respiratory syndrome, increased risk, COVID-19 case, city, offer, reuse, effective, initial, PROTECT, Result, greater, caused, globe, include, the disease, provided, provide, facilitated, unique, creating, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, global pandemic, decontamination, N95 respirator, reuse,