Building PeRSo respirators for
NHS frontline staff
The PeRSo project is a collaboration between the University of Southampton, University Hospital Southampton, Wessex Academic Health Science Network and INDO on behalf of Baynhams.
In April 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic created a global shortage of personal protective equipment with significant challenges in the supply chain for adequate provision of typical multi-layered fabric face masks. Disposable face masks have limited success in the emergency environment with frequent failure during use and loss of appropriate protection against the virus whilst wearing. HSE guidance (HSG53) recommends that disposable face masks are used for <1 hour of continuous use, whereas PAPRs (powered air purifying respirators) are recommended for >1 hour of continuous use.
Emergency service personnel are the frontline defence against the pandemic. To ensure success in delivering long-term sustained patient care, a more effective and reliable solution to FFP3 masks was required. The PeRSo addresses the issues of poor fit and significantly increases comfort to ensure protection against the Covid-19.
Communication is easier through a visor with additional protection properties provided to the wearer and improvement in patient care. Healthcare providers using PAPRs have proven to dramatically reduce the infection rate of healthcare workers when compared with other providers using multi-layered fabric face masks.
Based on the initial designs carried out by the University of Southampton, and delivered by UK manufacturer INDO, Baynhams is proud to offer the PeRSo range of PAPRs.
The PeRSo 3.2 PAPR is full type approved by BSI.