University Hospital Southampton has become the first healthcare provider in the country to widely introduce a pioneering protective respirator hood for staff treating patients with coronavirus (COVID-19).
The equipment, designed by researchers at the University of Southampton and the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre in collaboration with clinicians at UHS, was developed into a prototype in just a week, tested on wards and manufactured at scale in less than a month.
Known as PeRSo, it consists of a fabric hood which covers the wearer’s head and a plastic visor to protect their face.
It delivers clean air through a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter with belt-mounted fan pack, can be worn continuously for eight to nine hours and is reusable after appropriate cleaning.
