Battelle brings decontamination unit to Madison county

The Jackson Madison County Regional Health Department along with Federal and State departments were able to acquire a system to help clean PPE.

“We contacted our counterparts at the state emergency operations center and told them we felt like we would have a decent spot to put this', says regional hospital coordinator for the health department, Wayne Arnold.

Battelle Memorial Institute is placing 60 decontamination units across the country and one is right here in west Tennessee at Mckellar Sipes airport.

“For pandemics just like this, needing to kind of supplement the n95 supply when manufacturers can’t keep up with demand", says principal research scientist, Dan Loesch.

The unit consists of 4 decontamination containers and others to hold incoming dirty masks and more to hold clean masks before they are sent back.

Dan loesch – principal research scientist at battelle memorial institute

Loesch adds, “if everything is in place we can decontaminate thousands of masks a day.”

While vaporized hydrogen peroxide is the fueling factor in decontamination the containers have three 12 inch filters that will make sure nothing interrupts the decontamination process.

“So each of those will catch any material come through whether it is virus or just dirt and other particulate, but they can filter all of that out", says Loesch.

The unit in Madison county will serve hospitals, first responders, and companies with front line workers across the entire state.

Battelle plans to keep the unit set up for 4 to 6 weeks, but they are prepared to stay longer if a second wave occurs in the winter.

Imani Williams for 39 News, in Jackson.