VIDEO: Safely decontaminating a used N95 mask takes up to 72 hours and the 190th Air Refueling Wing is up to the task, thanks to a new tool at Forbes Field.
Battelle Program Manager, Mark Curran said, “The urgency behind this has to do with what was a shortage and continues to be a shortage of N95 masks.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency contracted with technology development company, Battelle, to supply sterilization units to 35 different states.
FEMA Region 7 Administrator, Paul Taylor said, “We want to be smart with the equipment that we do have and if we want to be able to extend the life of certain pieces of equipment, like N95 masks, we want to do that and the Battelle system allows state’s to do that.”
More than 300 health care providers and first responders in Kansas registered to take part in the system.
Curran said, “We’re hoping that it provides a little bit of relief, in the near term anyway, in terms of the shortage of N95 masks to be able to recycle these.”