Murphy Administration Deploys Essential Equipment To Help Meet Need For N95 Respirators
TRENTON – The Murphy Administration today announced that the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and The Defense Logistics Agency, has secured the Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System (CCDS) to assist healthcare providers, first responders, and other agencies in decontaminating and preserving critically needed N95 respirators at no charge to the sending agencies.
“Safe personal protective equipment is critical in protecting our front-line health care workers and first responders,” said Governor Murphy. “Thanks to the prudent planning our Coronavirus Task Force, we were able to secure this decontamination system early, which will help preserve our existing personal protective equipment supply and enhance New Jersey’s response effort.”
The Battelle CCDS, which has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, helps address the current shortage of critical Personal Protective Equipment across the country. The system is designed to work on N95 respirators to decontaminate biological contaminants including novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), making them available for reuse by health care workers and first responders. The Battelle CCDS is centrally located in Edison (Middlesex County) and can service the entire state.
“In addition to securing an adequate supply, clean and safe Personal Protective Equipment is essential to protect our healthcare workers, first responders and others engaged in fighting COVID-19,” said New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “Health care providers and agencies throughout the state can utilize this system at no cost and help protect their limited resources.”
The Battelle system can decontaminate up to 80,000 N95 respirators a day. Using the system, each N95 respirator can be decontaminated up to 20 times and still maintain sufficient filtration performance.
Battelle representatives will coordinate the enrollment and decontamination process for interested agencies. Agencies that require additional information or wish to enroll in the program can complete the form at https://www.battelle.org/inquiry/offerings-and-services/covid-response.
For more information on this system, visit https://www.battelle.org/inb/battelle-critical-care-decontamination-system-for-covid19
