POTSDAM -- Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad (PVRS) was awarded the 2021 New York State Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Systems EMS Innovation Award for Clinical Delivery Innovations. …
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POTSDAM -- Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad (PVRS) was awarded the 2021 New York State Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Systems EMS Innovation Award for Clinical Delivery Innovations.
The recent award was given for their development of UV Decontamination systems and procedures developed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic by rescue squad members Doug Bohl and Chris Towler.
The award noted their success in developing affordable decontamination equipment for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) equipment, as well as ambulance boxes.
“Early in the pandemic, addressing the limited supplies of PPE required creativity and innovation. While decontamination using manual wiping/mopping with appropriate solutions effectively cleans and sanitizes the majority of surfaces in an ambulance, secondary methods to ensure decontamination of all surfaces in an ambulance box became important to ensure both patient and provider safety,” said Bohl.
“Many existing methods were expensive, complicated or inappropriate for use at prehospital EMS agencies, especially smaller departments with limited financial resources and buying power,” he said.
Bohl and Towler, both Clarkson University faculty members, developed two different UVC systems that were low cost (under $350) and easy to construct by someone with basic home electrical wiring skills. Both use parts that could be easily purchased at local hardware stores and online suppliers.
The two systems were built, tested, and used extensively at the Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad, as well as at Clarkson University. This allowed for the extension of the rescue squad’s limited N95 mask supply.
“As a result, no providers had to go without an N95 or to reuse a respirator that was known to be contaminated,” said Bohl.