In 2 July 2020, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) organized a webinar on technical and regulatory aspects of prolonged use, reuse and reprocessing of respirators in periods of shortage.

Such webinar aimed to present issues related to the extended use, reuse, and reprocessing of N95 and equivalent respirators by health services during shortages of this personal protective equipment (PPE), to health facility managers, health authorities, and others involved in decision-making on the use and prioritization of PPE.

This session was based on a PAHO document that presents considerations for the prolonged use, reuse, and reprocessing of N95 respirators and equivalents by health services during periods of shortage of PPE. This document summarizes the available evidence on existing reprocessing methods for N95 respirators and equivalents. The recommendations are preliminary and are subject to review as new evidence becomes available. This document is available at https://www.paho.org/en/file/66805/download?token=DAkp6drm.

The webinar is available in English at the Campus Virtual for Public Health:  https://www.campusvirtualsp.org/en/webinar/technical-and-regulatory-aspects-prolonged-use-reuse-and-reprocessing-respirators-periods