ST. LOUIS — Thanks to a donation from a local company, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital can now sanitize large batches of N-95 masks at a time.
When local automation company PASCO heard the hospital was using UV light to sterilize masks, it reached out to offer its UV light trailer, the hospital said in a Tuesday press release.
“The process that we had established allowed for up to 4 masks to be treated at once causing a backlog of equipment to our frontlines," said Dr. Matt Broom, SLUCare pediatrician and Chief Medical Officer for Cardinal Glennon and SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.
"Now, we are able to accommodate 180 masks to be treated at once, with the goal of treating up to 1,000 masks or more per day.”
The trailer is outfitted with reflective polished aluminum panels and 30 fluorescent bulbs, which emit UV-C light in a spectrum that destroys COVID-19 and other viruses.
The "sterile processing team" is currently using the trailer to sterilize masks from Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University Hospital. The team hopes to expand its sterilizing technique to serve all SSM Health-St. Louis hospitals and local EMS teams.
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