WINNIPEG -- Hundreds of staff at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg are being fitted for a new N95 mask that can be reused.
The mask, developed by Precision ADM, comes in two sizes and is expected to start being used at the provincial hospital in early April with more facilities in Manitoba to follow.
Most of these respirators will be cleaned and disinfected using medical device reprocessing equipment. In circumstances where that specialized equipment isn’t available, a Shared Health spokesperson told CTV News a cleaning procedure using disinfecting wipes has been put together by Infection Prevention and Control, allowing the device to be reused up to 30 times.
The masks are not a replacement for single-use N95s, and Shared Health expects them to be used half of the time.
“It’ll help tremendously because they are reusable,” said Lanette Siragusa, Shared Heath’s chief nursing officer. “So once we get a sufficient stockpile- which they’re coming in regularly now – it will put us in a very good position.
Precision N95s will start being used in critical care, emergency and adult OR programs, including at the Women’s Hospital. About 1,300 staff are in the process of getting fitted for a mask.
