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Comparative Cost of Stockpiling Various Types of Respiratory Protective Devices to Protect the Health Care Workforce During an Influenza Pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2015

Gio Baracco ,
Sheri Eisert ,
Aaron Eagan  and
Lewis Radonovich
Gio Baracco*
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, National Center for Occupational Health and Infection Control, Gainesville, Florida Miami VA Healthcare System, Infectious Diseases, Miami, Florida University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Miami, Florida
Sheri Eisert
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, National Center for Occupational Health and Infection Control, Gainesville, Florida University of South Florida, Epidemiology, Tampa, Florida
Aaron Eagan
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, National Center for Occupational Health and Infection Control, Gainesville, Florida
Lewis Radonovich
Affiliation:
Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, National Center for Occupational Health and Infection Control, Gainesville, Florida
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Gio Baracco, MD, Miami VA Medical Center, 1201 NW 16th St (111), Miami, FL 33125 (gbaracco@med.miami.edu).
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Abstract

Specific guidance on the size and composition of respiratory protective device (RPD) stockpiles for use during a pandemic is lacking. We explore the economic aspects of stockpiling various types and combinations of RPDs by adapting a pandemic model that estimates the impact of a severe pandemic on a defined population, the number of potential interactions between patients and health care personnel, and the potential number of health care personnel needed to fulfill those needs. Our model calculates the number of the different types of RPDs that should be stockpiled and the consequent cost of purchase and storage, prorating this cost over the shelf life of the inventory. Compared with disposable N95 or powered air-purifying respirators, we show that stockpiling reusable elastomeric half-face respirators is the least costly approach. Disposable N95 respirators take up significantly more storage space, which increases relative costs. Reusing or extending the usable period of disposable devices may diminish some of these costs. We conclude that stockpiling a combination of disposable N95 and reusable half-face RPDs is the best approach to preparedness for most health care organizations. We recommend against stockpiling powered air-purifying respirators as they are much more costly than alternative approaches. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:313-318)

Keywords

pandemicsstockpilesrespiratory protective devicesmodel
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 313 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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