Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, Personal protective equipment is in high demand. That creates a challenge to the U.S. healthcare system for people like Brian Hambek who is the Executive Director of the Spearfish Ambulance Service. "We're worried about what we call burn rate on PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, and that is a one time use thing that you throw away,” said Hambek. “Well we don't have the back-up for this, we don't have the supplies coming in. So we have to re-use whatever we can."
The Spearfish Ambulance Service found an answer at Black Hills State University, an autoclave.
It's like a medical-grade steam cleaner and it works like this. Masks are taken out of brown paper bags labeled with the responder's name and put onto shelves that slid into the autoclave.
One of the people in charge of the autoclave is Assistant Director Facility Services at Black Hills State University Mike Overby.