Personal Protective Equipment and Personal Protective Technology Product Standardization for a Resilient Public Health Supply Chain

The National Strategy for a Resilient Public Health Supply Chain lays out the U.S. government vision to protect the health and security of Americans by ensuring a supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE) and technology (PPT), medical devices, medicines, and other public health supplies that is resilient against disruptions from pandemics and other biological threats. Additional forethought and collaboration amongst policy makers, manufacturers, and users is needed to make PPE and PPT innovation, standardization, stockpiling, and use more resilient.

The National Academies convened a public workshop in March 2023 to explore innovative approaches and technologies needed to update and streamline the U.S. standardization system for PPE and PPT in support of supply chain resiliency. Discussions included ways to improve the effectiveness, safety, supply stability, and accessibility of PPE and PPT designed for use in health care settings, by critical infrastructure workers, and by the general public. This Proceedings of a Workshop summarizes the discussions held during the workshop.

Table of Contents

Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 The Role of Standards in a Resilient PPE/PPT Supply Chain 3 PPE/PPT Supply Chain and Standards During COVID-19 4 Developing Standards for PPE/PPT Design 5 Standards and PPE Manufacturing Capacity 6 Conformity, Certification, and Continued Product Performance 7 Marketing, Stockpiling, and Distribution 8 Standards for Communicating with and Educating End Users 9 Considering Approaches to Prioritizing Filling Gaps in Standards 10 Envisioning a Standards System for a Resilient PPE Supply Chain References Appendix A: Workshop Agenda Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of the Speakers, Session Moderators, and Project Staff