Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), including medical N95 masks, are forcing hospitals, care centers, and first responders across the country to, in some cases, reuse their limited supply of these critical resources during this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. On March 31, 2020, the CDC released Crisis Standards of Care Recommendations for N95 Decontamination.
El-Samad and Prakash are part of N95DECON, a volunteer collective of scientists, engineers, clinicians, and students from universities across the US, as well as other professionals in the private sector. N95DECON seeks to review, collate, publish, and disseminate scientific information about N95 decontamination to help in decisions about N95 decontamination and reuse.
See PRAKASH lab website for COVID-19 projects – these are open projects, people can join or share working docs.