Improving Respiratory Protection for Staff during COVID-19

Research, case studies & applications in healthcare

DESCRIPTION:
TSI® and expert guest speakers discuss how healthcare facilities can improve respiratory protection for staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar will include research updates on COVID-19 transmission and information on how to reduce transmission through various types of respiratory protection and respirator fit testing. The information presented will include research, novel approaches, and example cases from peer healthcare facilities.

AGENDA:

COVID-19 Update on Aerosol Transmission, Respirators for Healthcare and Fit Testing
Lisa Brosseau - Certified Industrial Hygienist

• An update on the data supporting the biological plausibility of SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission
• The importance of respiratory protection in healthcare settings
• The role of fit testing in a respiratory protection program

Hospital Elastomeric Respirator Use Pre- and During COVID-19
Stella E. Hines, MD, MSPH – Occupational Medicine Physician, and Pulmonologist

• Lessons learned from hospital elastomeric respirator use, 2009-2019
• Solutions implemented during COVID-19

Additional Experience using Elastomeric Respirators in Healthcare
Mark Catlin - Industrial Hygienist

• Discussion on the use of elastomeric respirators in healthcare and related sectors
• Information and resources for those considering their use
• Provide helpful resources for adopting elastomeric respirators in healthcare

Fit Testing Respirators for Healthcare Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Ramesh Mani – TSI® Global Product Manager

• The advantages of quantitative fit testing over qualitative testing methods
• How the PortaCount® Fit Tester helps healthcare facilities more quickly fit test any respirator for maximum protection, including all N95s, elastomerics, etc.

Q & A Session

MEET THE PRESENTERS:

Dr. Lisa Brosseau is a certified industrial hygienist with work experience as an academic educator and researcher. Much of her research focused on the performance of respirators in laboratory and real-world settings. She has expertise with infectious aerosol exposures and has been consulting with many organizations on workplace controls for COVID-19.  She works as a Research Consultant at the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Mark Catlin has been an industrial hygienist for almost 40 years. He has a long-standing interest in improving respirator use in healthcare to protect workers from exposures to aerosol-transmissible diseases, including using elastomeric respirators. In 2018, Mark presented on Reusable Elastomeric Respirators: Healthcare Worker Perspectives to the National Academies of Sciences Committee on the Use of Elastomeric Respirators in Health Care.

Stella E. Hines, MD, MSPH, is an Associate Professor at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine in Baltimore. Dr. Hines studies reusable respirator use in healthcare to address N95 shortages and has published and presented on this topic at national and international meetings.

Ramesh Mani is the Global Product Manager at TSI for the PortaCount Respirator Fit Tester. He has many years of experience in specialized health and safety and technology products and solutions serving the Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Industrial Sectors. Ramesh holds a BSME and MBA degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Watch the recording