BROUSSARD, La. – Acadian Ambulance has selected SafeSource Direct, a Louisiana-based personal protective equipment manufacturer, to be its preferred provider for American-made chemo-rated nitrile exam gloves.
“We’re proud to partner with another Louisiana-based company to provide a supply of high-quality, American-made gloves,” said Acadian Chairman and CEO Richard Zuschlag in a press release. “Our EMTs and paramedics use thousands of gloves every day across our service to areas in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee. And like others during the pandemic, we faced PPE supply shortages. Partnering with SafeSource Direct is an investment in long-term PPE supply resilience.”
Launched in 2021, SafeSource Direct said it has two manufacturing facilities capable of producing more than 108,000 gloves per hour across multiple operational lines. It aims to have a dozen lines operational by January 2024 capable of producing more than 2 billion gloves annually with additional manufacturing capacity available on site. SafeSource Direct is working toward complete vertical integration by sourcing raw materials at a nearby facility to further shore up PPE resiliency.
“We’re grateful to Acadian Ambulance for its partnership and for allowing us to supply nitrile exam gloves,” said Justin Hollingsworth, SafeSource Direct CEO. “As an American-owned company, we’re uniquely positioned to meet the PPE needs of our nation’s first responders.”
Through a partnership with Ochsner Health,SafeSource Direct is a U.S. provider-owned PPE manufacturer with U.S. provider-owned quality control.
SafeSource Direct’s chemo-rated nitrile exam gloves received FDA 510(k) clearance in 022. In addition to gloves, the company produces Level 1 and 3 surgical ear loop and surgical tie masks and standard three-ply procedure masks and shoe covers. It will soon be making cup respirators, fishtail respirators, hair bouffant head covers and isolation gowns.
The agreement with Acadian comes on the heels of SafeSource Direct’s delivery of 1.5 million shoe covers ahead of schedule to the Indian Health Service last month and an agreement announced in November to provide gloves to Vizient, a health care performance improvement company.
