{"id":320093,"date":"2020-03-31T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=320093"},"modified":"2020-03-31T06:00:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T20:00:19","slug":"guam-volunteers-needed-to-make-masks-and-face-shields-for-health-care-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/guam-volunteers-needed-to-make-masks-and-face-shields-for-health-care-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Guam volunteers needed to make masks and face shields for health care workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAG\u00c5T\u00d1A, Guam<\/strong>\u2014A local community group seeks volunteers to make Personal Protective Equipment to be donated to Guam\u2019s health care professionals, first responders, and others at high risk of contracting Covid-19. <\/p>\n

The group, PPE for Guam, particularly seeks volunteers with sewing experience, or any volunteer with a 3D printer. In collaboration with Guam Memorial Hospital, Guam Regional Medical City, the Office of Civil Defense, local 3D-printing firm Gudwood, and the University of Guam, PPE for Guam recently developed do-it-yourself plans for sewn face masks and 3D-printed face shields that can be made at home, and which are preferred by local medical professionals. <\/p>\n

These DIY PPE will be utilized should traditional PPE run out. According to an article published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, hospitals nationwide are already reporting a worrisome shortage of PPE, including masks and face shields. The consequences can be dire: <\/p>\n

In Italy, health care workers experienced high rates of infection and death partly because of inadequate access to PPE. And recent estimates here in the United States suggest that we will need far more respirators and surgical masks than are currently available. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe local response has been inspiring,\u201d said Allison Rutter, a local engineer and co-founder of the group. \u201cIn two weeks, we\u2019ve developed multiple prototypes, tested them in local hospitals, and finalized preferred designs. Now we\u2019re looking to expand with more volunteers,\u201d she added. PPE for Guam\u2019s designs are based on open-source solutions that were developed for the coronavirus pandemic and have already been implemented in other hospitals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith worldwide shortages of lifesaving protective gear, it is critical to be proactive, but it is also critical to produce reliable, high-quality safety equipment. PPE for Guam has done a great job partnering health care professionals, engineers, and scientists to help guide this effort, and I encourage everyone to contribute in whatever way you can to their efforts to keep our community safe,\u201d said Dr. Dave Weingarten, chairman of the Department of Surgery, Guam Memorial Hospital. <\/p>\n

PPE for Guam will work closely with the Office of Civil Defense to donate PPE to healthcare workers, first responders, and others at high risk of contracting Covid-19. \u201cWe truly appreciate the initiative and hard work from the volunteers at PPE for Guam in helping us fill critical PPE shortages experienced throughout the island and the nation. Currently our priority of PPE fill is medical health professionals and first responders. With this donation, we can start equipping support personnel who have been in the fight since day one and fulfilling outstanding requests for resources. The effort here truly embodies a whole of the community approach to emergencies,\u201d said Charles Esteves, administrator, Office of Civil Defense. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to prepare for things getting much worse,\u201d said Cyrus Luhr, co-founder of PPE for Guam. The CDC recommends the use of emergency, homemade PPE as a last resort when traditional, commercial PPE is unavailable. \u201cIf Guam experiences the same shortage of PPE that other places around the country are witnessing, the protective gear that volunteers make now may literally save lives,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The University of Guam will also be contributing its expertise and 3D printers to the cause. \u201cIt is great to see how our community is coming together through collaborations like this,\u201d said UOG president Thomas Krise. \u201cJust last week, we were discussing how we can use our 3D printers to help provide much needed personal protective equipment to our frontline health care personnel. And now we have another way that UOG is able to help in the response efforts.\u201d <\/p>\n

PPE for Guam welcomes anyone interested in learning more about volunteering opportunities to visit www.PPEforGuam.com or facebook.com\/groups\/PPEforGuam for additional information and guidance on how to get started. \u201cMaking PPE from home is a great way to get involved and make a difference. This is our chance to protect those who protect us,\u201d added Luhr. (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAG\u00c5T\u00d1A, Guam\u2014A local community group seeks volunteers to make Personal Protective Equipment to be donated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[51,55],"class_list":["post-320093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-guam","tag-health-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}