Advanced Sterile Processing for COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment

N95呼吸机是个人防护装备（PPE），用于在治疗疑似新冠肺炎患者时保护一线医护人员。 目前没有N95制冷剂的国内供应商或制造商，迫使加拿大在国际市场上竞争购买。 新型冠状病毒疫情对全球供应造成巨大压力，使N95制冷剂的采购面临挑战。 N95的替代品是存在的，该项目将重点关注将这些替代品与合作伙伴医院达特茅斯总医院（DGH）和DGH基金会整合到医院运营中。 将特别关注医疗器械再处理（MDR），其需要以所需的规模和速度有效处理这些灭菌器。 设计采购（或收集捐赠物品）的物流和管理系统，将其纳入标准实践和MDR标准操作程序是此应用程序的重点。 确定如何最好地优化这一关键资源的使用（和再利用）将对医院运营产生巨大的好处，并将极大地支持至关重要的医护人员的安全。 此外，在这项研究中开发的最佳实践指南将对其他加拿大医院和加拿大政府产生深远的影响，因为他们正在努力解决严重的N95呼吸器短缺问题。

N95 respirators are personal protective equipment (PPE) that are used to protect frontline healthcare workers while treating patients suspected of having Covid-19. There currently are no domestic suppliers or manufacturers of N95 respirators forcing Canada to compete for purchasing them on the international market. Covid-19 has put great pressure on the global supply making it challenging to source N95 respirators. Alternatives to N95 exist and this project will focus on integrating these alternatives into hospital operations with partner hospital Dartmouth General (DGH) and the DGH Foundation. Particular attention will be paid to the Medical Device Reprocessing (MDR) which needs to process these respirators efficiently at the scale and speed required. Designing the logistics and management systems for purchasing (or collecting donated items), integrating them into standard practice, and the MDR standard operating procedures is the focus of this application. Determining how best to optimize the use (and reuse) of this critical resource will have tremendous benefits to hospital operations and will greatly support the safety of critically important healthcare workers. Furthermore, best practice guidelines developed in this study will have far reaching implications for other Canadian hospitals and the Canadian government as they grapple with the significant N95 respirator shortage.