Dr. Fresh donates face masks, hand sanitizer to Red Cross

BUENA PARK, Calif. Dr. Fresh, a maker of personal care products, is donating 50,000 Infectiguard surgical face masks and 5,000 units of its Infectiguard hand sanitizer to the Red Cross to aid in Haitian earthquake relief efforts.

"With increasing public health concerns including poor air quality, the proliferation of bacteria, and lack of water, something as simple as masks and hand sanitizers can help both earthquake survivors and relief workers," stated Puneet Nanda, founder of Dr. Fresh.

The supplies are urgently needed to stop the spread of infection from patient to patient in the disaster-hit area. Fresh water is scarce, so waterless hand sanitizers can bridge the gap when traditional hand washing is not possible, the company stated. Doctors and nurses have to treat thousands of patients with open wounds, and thus need protection when moving from one patient to the next. The surgical face masks help to protect the doctors as well as the patients from infection.