In the Hartford Hospital Emergency Department, necessity has truly proven to be the mother of invention in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here, the need to preserve supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) has spawned efforts led by Dr. Shawn London, an ED physician, to create face shields for staff. The team has leveraged existing technology and basic office supplies to create the plastic shields that can be worn over N95 masks.

“We are using technology for building educational models to extend our supplies of PPEs,” Dr. London said. “Our conventional supply chains have become constrained.

“Our primary goal is to keep providing awesome care to our patients and to protect our staff.”

Staff members working with COVID-19 patients wear surgical or N95 masks over their noses and mouths and protective eyewear to prevent infection. Changing them after patient contact prevents the virus from spreading to other patients and staff. However, the face shields keep the masks and eyewear clean, which allows them to be used longer, he said.

“This lets us respond in the moment to what our teams need,” Dr. London said.

Standard office laminate sheets are attached to plastic headbands to make the shields. To further extend the life of supplies, the team is also repurposing heating furnace filters, which contain the same material as the N-95 masks. Dr. London said that with some water and a hair dryer, these filters can even be molded to a specific provider’s face.

For more information about Hartford Hospital’s Emergency Services, click here.

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