Oregon will decontaminate, reuse masks worn by medical workers, thanks to federally-funded machine
Published 11:30 am Tuesday, May 5, 2020
SALEM — The federal government will send a decontamination machine to Oregon to sanitize N-95 respirators in an effort to increase the lifespan of masks used by health care workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The decontamination program will be funded and managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is working with the Battelle Memorial Institute of Ohio to provide free decontamination services for public and private frontline workers in Oregon who use N-95 masks. The University of Oregon will house the decontamination machine on its Eugene campus.
The cleaning system, which is being deployed by Battelle, is supposed to increase the lifespan of a mask by up to 20 times. Health care organizations that enroll with Battelle can ship and receive masks at no cost through Cardinal Health or FedEx.
“An emergency of this scale requires partnerships across all levels of government and with the private sector,” said Andrew Phelps, Director of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management, in a statement. “This is a great example of partners working together to bring an innovative solution forward to help save lives.”
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of decontamination units in an effort to help health care workers impacted by a shortage of personal protective equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The decontamination system is supposed to significantly increase the lifespan of Oregon’s supply of N-95 respirators, which are usually disposed of after one use.
Oregon’s decontamination unit will be one of 60 around the country.
Its arrival comes at a critical time for Oregon. Gov. Kate Brown has said a steady and consistent supply of protective gear will be one of the key components necessary to end her stay-home orders.
The state and federal government, along with Battelle, are working together to ensure the safe operation of the decontamination machine, which “consists of eight shipping containers that have been converted into airtight chambers that use vaporized hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the masks.”
