Project Description: 

The Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (PAPR) is the primary airborne pathogen defense for infection control staff who don’t pass a fit test on the N95 Mask. There is no current industry standard for decontamination of the PAPR, there are many different models, and each hospital handles this task differently. The primary source of contamination, according to multiple research studies and user interviews, is the direct contact between the user and the external surface of the PAPR hood during donning and doffing the device. A fast-paced hospital environment needs a quick donning and doffing mechanism to minimize the amount of time taken away from patient care. Our team, Rock PAPR Scissors, has developed a solution to this problem called the PAPR MagStand, composed of a magnetic stand and an adapted design of the PAPR hood. The PAPR MagStand allows donning and doffing with 0 effort, minimum contact and optimum speed to adapt to the user’s needs at the hospital. The stand is made up of two arms with drilled-in on/off magnets controlled by a foot pedal at the base. Our developed PAPR hood contains metal strips on its sides to attract, attach and hang from the stand after use and on its back for immediate positioning of the hood before use, without the need of touching it and risking any external contamination.The waist-level platform allows for a smooth battery drop-off while the PAPR hangs from the stand, and every attachment is portable and easily stored. Our final prototype of PAPR MagStand has met the desired purposes and fulfilled the design inputs intended for its final design mechanism. We believe the MagStand presents the quickest and most effective solution in reducing risk of contamination for healthcare workers and a strong beginning to the adaptation of PAPR technology in hospital environments.