TECHNOLOGY

Unique Solution for Pandemic Preparedness Invented in Bay County

by: Jennifer McCabe, Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist, Reusable Respirators, LLC.

With advancements in science and technology, who would have thought the COVID-19 pandemic could strike the healthcare system and leave a shortage of N95 respirators? The spread of COVID-19 seemed to take the world by surprise.

While the concept of a pandemic was new to the public, scientists at Applied Research Associates (ARA), Inc., in Panama City, began investigating a solution to address a potential supply shortage more than 15 years ago. “We started thinking about this after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and we knew at that time, there would be a shortage of respirators if we ever got to a severe pandemic,” said Brian Heimbuch, Vice President of Reusable Respirators LLC (RR). RR is a subsidiary of ARA that was established for respirator manufacturing. “We put together our collective thoughts and worked with industries all over the world to come up with a unique solution we call ElastoMaskPro. It’s a combination of various types of respirators and is targeted for use in frontline worker environments.”

ElastoMaskPro can help hospitals avoid supply chain issues such as those that occurred in 2020. With supplies running low and little options left, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidance suggesting healthcare workers store used

disposable N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) in paper bags for five days between uses. This was a temporary last resort because disposable N95 FFRs were designed to only be used once. Another option was elastomeric respirators, but they have their own challenges. Typical elastomerics are bulky, hard to clean, hard to breathe through and have multiple components. ElastoMaskPro solves these problems by combining the simplicity of a disposable FFR with the durability and reusability of an elastomeric respirator.

ElastoMaskPro is approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Earning government approval is no easy task. Besides a well-designed, effective product that meets NIOSH requirements for an air-purifying respirator, those approved by NIOSH are manufactured under a stringent quality management system.

With hundreds of respirators on the market, what makes this one different?

“By incorporating the best qualities of disposable N95 FFRs and elastomeric respirators, we have, for the first time ever, created something from the ground up to meet the demands of frontline workers, first responders, and others,” Heimbuch said. “A single ElastoMaskPro has the potential to replace tens of thousands of disposable N95 FFRs reducing cost and saving our environment from unnecessary waste.”

"ElastoMaskPro is an example of advanced simplicity. The respirator has a simple design and is easy to use. However, getting to market required a great deal of technology and design innovation. When we envisioned the design for ElastoMaskPro, it was really for two purposes. One was stockpiling. It’s durable and has a long shelf life, so it can be stockpiled for long periods of time, and the other is use in frontline worker settings.”

The ElastoMaskPro can be wiped clean, and each respirator has a unique serial number and barcode to easily identify the owner.

Forever FitTM technology is one of the core achievements of the ElastoMaskPro. It allows the durable silicone design to be contorted and stretched thousands of times and bounce back to its original shape. Simulated use testing shows ElastoMaskPro maintains fit after 100,000 simulated uses. This contrasts with the straps on traditional N95 FFRs that are intended for a single use.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many people worried about exhalation valves spreading unfiltered air. Some manufacturers found ways to plug exhalation valves, but this can affect breathability. ElastoMaskPro is one of the first reusable N95 FFRs intentionally designed without an exhalation valve. This important safety feature means users only exhale filtered air using patented Filter Puck® technology. This was central to eliminating the exhalation valve without affecting comfort. ElastoMaskPro is three to five times more breathable than many elastomeric respirators, and two to three times more breathable than many disposable N95 FFRs.

It’s easy to conceive innovation, but the true challenge is making it a reality. Bringing ElastoMaskPro to fruition required novel materials, tooling and processes, along with expertise from government partners and industries around the world. ElastoMaskPro received NIOSH approval in 2022. Having reached this milestone, Reusable Respirators LLC. has begun larger-scale production to offer the highest quality respiratory protection available to frontline workers. The company is working to scale up production to approximately 20,000 respirators a month by this summer.

Preventing a pandemic may not be possible, so being prepared is the key. It appears we are nearing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there will be another one. Be certain, you and your workers are prepared. Learn more about ElastoMaskPro at reusable-respirators.com.