SAN ANTONIO – By now, it’s safe to say everyone knows there’s a reported shortage of N95 face masks, which are the kind that medical staffers need for taking care of patients the safest way possible -- especially patients who have, or might have, this novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
University Hospital doesn’t necessarily face a current mask shortage, but health officials there have “watched (the situation) with concern,” University Health System said online.
This prompted Tommye Austin, UHS’s chief nurse executive, along with others, to start exploring alternatives and consulting with health care experts around the country. They found they could safely reuse N95 masks once they are sterilized with a hydrogen peroxide process the hospital already uses to decontaminate other medical equipment, including surgical instruments, according to the hospital.
“We already know it works, so why not use it?” Austin said in the online report. “We are just repurposing it.”
University Hospital wanted a contingency plan and it appears that now, it has one.
“Protecting our workforce must be our top priority during this crisis," UHS said.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst said that a used N95 mask sterilized with hydrogen peroxide gas blocked infectious particles as effectively as an unused mask, which screens out 95% of airborne particles, according to the report.
The Centers for Disease Control also found the process does not damage filtration or change the fit of the mask, which must be snug on the wearer’s face, UHS said.
And there you have it: University Hospital’s sterilization department has begun using hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate N95s.
Here’s how it works -- at the end of a shift, health care employees place their masks in individual bags. The sterilization team examines the masks and discards those that are damaged or soiled.
“Soiled” can mean a mask has makeup on it, or even just moisture.
Masks that pass a visual test are then sent through a machine, which bombards them with the gas. A bio-indicator accompanying the masks shows when all of the germs have been killed.
The process, which takes several hours, allows each N95 to be worn by the same worker four times. The hospital is currently sterilizing about 50 N95s a day.
“While that’s not a replacement for the continued effort to acquire new masks, it greatly extends the hospital’s supply," the online report said.