Development of a rapid, multi-organisational, multi-modal assessment of a newly available disposable respirator.

Background: A rapid large-scale evaluation of a newly available duckbill style P2/N95 respirator, the Care Essentials (CE) MSK-003, was required to determine its suitability for deployment into the Victorian healthcare service. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility of establishing a rapid, multi-organisational and multi-modal evaluation of the respirator, and to investigate whether this respirator would meet the needs of healthcare workers.

Methods: The evaluation was a collaboration among three healthcare organisations - two tertiary hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne and a rural-based hospital.