On 18th May 2020, Indian Navy made “NavRakshak” PPE kit made with innovative breathable fabric material, to provide comfort to healthcare workers working against COVID-19 pandemic wearing multi-layered coverall PPE treating patients in the hot and humid condition for more than 12 hours.
About NavRakshak:
i.NavRaksha means – “novel protector” has two factors, optimal protectiveness and optimal breathability. This uses advanced quality non woven fabric of specific Grams per Square Meter(GSM) with stitching technique.
ii.It took seven days for Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Arnab Ghosh from Naval Medical Specialist of Innovation Cell, Institute of Naval Medicine in Mumbai to make the NavRakshak after research and studies on medical garments like gloves, headgears etc.
iii.It was made with the understanding of the difficulties faced by the healthcare workers combating against COVID-19.
iv.The ability of the fabric to allow water vapour to pass through and prevent the water from entering is known as Breathability. The comfort properties of the fabric is dependent on their ability to transmit the water and vapour from the body and preventing the accumulation of liquid on the skin.
v.The PPE passed the Synthetic blood penetration resistance test with 6/6 (Government of India mandates minimum 3/6 and above as per ISO 16603 standard ) pressure certified for mass production and to be used in clinical COVID-19 situations.
Key Points:
i.The PPE kits available in the Indian market does not focus on the breathability which takes a toll on the healthcare workers on prolonged usage of substandard and low quality PPE.
ii.The patent of this cost effective PPE developed by Indian Navy is filed by the Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell (IPFC) of the Ministry of Defence and the pilot batch was produced at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai and tested at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi.
About INMAS:
Director- Dr. Tarun Sekhri
Established- 1956
Headquarters- Delhi
