PPE Procurement Solutions and Consulting Services

PPE PROCUREMENT SOLUTIONS

These are difficult times for many business owners.  Traditional office supply purchasing strategies are poorly suited for today’s needs.  Sound Strategies offers a comprehensive outsourced procurement solution for all your business needs.  We specialize in the following:

• Laptops and tablets
• Routers, modems, and network switches
• Comfort and hospitality
• Desks, chairs, and lighting
• PPE (personal protection equipment)
• Cleaners and sanitizers

PPE CONSULTING 

Most business owners will struggle to determine the best way to protect tjheir employees and customers.  Our PPE team will work with you to create a strategy and solution to fit needs and budget.

We have spent countless days navigating the personal protection equipment space.  We have numerous PPE suppliers that provide everything that is needed to keep your office safe.  A typical strategy includes many (sometimes all) of the following components:

• Masks and face shields
• Gloves
• Sanitizer
• Gowns
• Testing regimes (in office and at home)
• Employee guidelines
• Customer guidelines
• Vendor guidelines
• Procurement

All our clients have access to our password protected PPE white papers that provide critical information for making PPE related business decisions.

Understanding Masks

Prepared by Andy LoCascio – Last update 4/30/2020

N95

An N95 is an NIOSH (National Institute for Health and Safety) tested and approved mask that features a close facial fit

N95 vs Surgical Mask

An N95 that is more effective than a surgical mask because of the following:

• Tight fitting face seal
• Fit testing is part of the certification requirement
• The user needs to check the seal when putting on the mask
• Filters out 95% of all small and large airborne particles while the surgical mask is not reliable for smaller particles
• Properly fitted there is minimal leakage
• Protects the wearer from the contaminants in the environment while the surgical mask protects others from the emissions of the wearer

KN95 vs N95

No matter that anyone says a “fully compliant” and tested KN95 is equivalent to an N95.  The KN95 is simply the Chinese standard used for these masks when imported into the US.  However, “fully compliant” is a critical consideration (more below).

FDA Certificate

See https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/personal-protective-equipment-infection-control/faqs-shortages-surgical-masks-and-gowns

All KN95 masks should be accompanied by an FDA certificate that identifies the factory and the product.  This confirms the manufacturer has established to the FDA that the factory and the device meets certain criteria.

EUA for KN95

EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) is NOT required by KN95 masks (though recommended by the FDA).  A mask with an EUA listing does not imply that it is somehow more effective than other KN95 masks.  It only recognizes that the factory went through the trouble of applying for the EUA.

KN95 Compliance

Masks manufacturers have the option to submit their masks for comprehensive testing by the CDC.  The masks are evaluated for quality, fit, and effectiveness.  If the mask is approved it is added to the FDA list of approved non-NIOSH respirators.  A mask that gets this approval is basically equivalent to an N95 mask.  Unfortunately, the CDC is overwhelmed and it can take many weeks to get on the list.  In addition the CDC now requires that the manufacturer first gets an EUA.  Because of this, only a small fraction of masks make it onto the CDC list.