Silver State Industries, the industrial arm of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), has launched a hand sanitizer manufacturing program to dramatically increase the supply available to medical personnel, corrections, and other law enforcement throughout Nevada.
“NDOC saw a need for additional protective measures for their staff, and for others in Nevada who are serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19,” said Charles Daniels, Director of NDOC. “Offenders at Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) are now producing thousands of bottles a day to meet this urgent demand for personal protective equipment.”
Starting in early March, William Quenga, Deputy Director of Industrial Programs at NDOC, began working with Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to coordinate and locate supplies needed for hand sanitizer including:
- Hundreds of gallons of distilled water, ethanol (generously supplied by Bentley Heritage), glyercine, and isopropyl.
- Barrels, tubes, nozzles, and other equipment for manufacturing.
- 2 ounce, 10 ounce, and one gallon plastic bottles to hold the hand sanitizer.
- Paper labels, shipping boxes, and trucks for distributing.
The availability of hand sanitizer is just one of many public health measures the department is taking to detect and slow the spread of COVID-19 in Nevada. At its own facilities, NDOC suspended visitation, screens all staff and offenders for symptoms of COVID-19, and employs Surface Sanitation Teams to thoroughly clean surfaces using a 10% bleach solution, among other pro-active strategies.
For more information about Silver State Industries, please visit www.ssi.nv.gov.
