NORTH BRANFORD, Conn. — Two veteran medics invent a plastic liner to protect against infectious diseases and as an alternative to using multiple plastic sheets and duct tape.
The Biocell ambulance protective system, made from an extra thick plastic lining, is designed to federal guidelines. It is meant to make the process of protecting the interior of an ambulance fast and easy, WWLP reported.
Connecticut paramedics Lenny Guercia and Bob Holdsworth are part of the group who created Biocell.
“You remember during the Ebola, there were families who sat sometimes for hours in their homes waiting to be transported for care while the first responders were waiting, prudently so — to protect the inside of the equipment — to get their bio suits on and have them all in place,” Guercia said.
The lining is one size fits all and can be set up in less than eight minutes.
“It’s about crew safety, it’s about patient safety and it’s about the ability to gear up quickly when you need to transport a patient,” Holdsworth said.
The North Branford Fire Department is the first in the country to add Biocell to its protective equipment.
“It’s a major breakthrough in a very inexpensive and most effective way to protect personnel and vehicles, dealing not only with hazardous materials exposure but the consequences of Ebola, MERS and SARS,” Fire Chief Bill Seward said.