ILC Dover, a world leader in the innovative design and production of engineered products employing high-performance flexible materials, announced today that it expedited the regulatory approval and manufacturing processes of a new Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) hood for healthcare workers attending to patients with COVID-19. Effective today, the new infectious disease hood called Sentinel EZ BioHood™ is available for purchase.
In response to the severe shortage of PPE, ILC Dover expedited the design, development, and manufacture of Sentinel EZ BioHood™. The accelerated process was made possible by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which stepped up in a major way, expediting their normal regulatory approval process to one week.
Sentinel EZ BioHood™ is NIOSH-approved as a loose-fitting hood designed to work with ILC Dover’s Sentinel XL® blower system. It features an APF of 1,000, and when compared to N-95 masks which offer an APF of 10, Sentinel EZ BioHood™ provides 100x the protection. In further contrast to N-95 masks, Sentinel EZ BioHood™ is supplied with clean filtered air, can be worn comfortably for long periods of time, and provides exceptional visibility.
“The team at ILC Dover, with critical support from NIOSH, has been working tirelessly on Sentinel EZ BioHood™, striving to provide relief to healthcare workers as quickly as possible,” said Fran DiNuzzo, President and CEO at ILC Dover. “A core goal at ILC Dover is to safeguard people from hazardous conditions, so as a company, mobilizing to develop PPE solutions is our responsibility. But as individuals with an inherent desire to help others, working relentlessly to complete this development was an act of passion.”
The hood’s design is intuitive to use, compact to store, allows a stethoscope to be worn simultaneously, and workers do not need to be fit-tested to wear it effectively. Other features include an internal headband, wrap-around clear visor, loose-fitting neck cuff, and lay-flat hood design/2D.
