Island company designing protective gown to help in fight against COVID-19

An Island manufacturing company is producing a new type of protective gown for health-care workers at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top Dog Manufacturing, based in Summerside, P.E.I., producesprotective equipment, like gloves and gowns, for a number of industries, including food processing, hospitality and health care.

Doug LeClair, the company'sCEO,said since the start of the pandemic there have been demands for new types of protective gear, and he has received requests from customers across the country and around the world.

"I've seen requests for proposals or request documents coming out of Italy, coming out of the U.S.," LeClair said.

"And they all reference a level-two isolation gown and that's what we're in the process of finalizing."

The company distributes its products, including hospital gear, to 24 countries.

Durable and reusable

LeClair said the new gown has been redesigned from the company's standard gown typically sold within the food processing industry.

The thing that sets this gown apart from other medical gowns the company produces is that it's made out of polyurethane.

"Thistype of material is not traditional in the hospital gown apparel at this time," said LeClair.

He said polyurethane isdurable andflexible and the material makes the gown reusable, waterproof, chemical resistant and recyclable.

He said he hopes the new gown will help meet national and global demands for personal protective equipment (PPE) as the pandemic goes on.

Hopes to expand production

On March 31, the federal government agreed to spend $2 billion on the procurement of PPE, as well as ventilators and diagnostic testing.

LeClair said the company has received its licenceto produce the new gown from Health Canada and is waiting on its final certification before it can go to market.

"It's quite evident to sell into primary health-care in Canada there's a standard," LeClair said.

He said several weeks ago the company "undertook sourcing a lab to test our product to the standard required to meet the criteria for these gowns going into primary health care."

Health Canada has been expediting approvals of product reviews and required licences for relevant equipment because of the high demand for PPE.

If approved, LeClair plans to expand production by investing in moreequipment to increase the company's capacity to produce the gowns. Hesaidhe also intends to hire 10 to 12 more staff to meet the increased production demands.

He hopes to be selling the gown by the end of the month.

More from CBC P.E.I.