Local man leads efforts to make face shields
Andrew Baugh of South Strabane Township is led an effort to produce face shields for WHS-Washington Hospital employees and other health-care workers and first responders who were on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in April.
Face masks for Washington Hospital employees
3-D printers work to create face masks for Washington Hospital employees.
Andrew Baugh of South Strabane Township has been paying close attention to the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Baugh’s brother lives in Seattle, where the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in February, and he has watched and read reports of health-care workers on the front lines who are working with COVID-19 patients wearing reused face masks, bandannas and plastic garbage bags.
So when Brook Ward, president of Washington Health System-Washington Hospital, reached out to the community last week to provide protective gear in anticipation of the surge of COVID-19 patients in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Baugh sprung into action.
Baugh designed a face shield that provides an additional layer of protection for health-care workers, and is worn over N95 masks or face masks.
His goal is to make 1,000 face shields, and he has recruited people locally and from across the country to build them, too.
“I was struggling with what I could do to help,” said Baugh. “I follow the national news, and I was struck by the significant shortage of personal protective equipment in the first states hit by the pandemic. I started to think of ways I could help our local community because I knew it was a matter of time before the virus spread to our area. I have the mentality that there’s just got to be a way we can fix this.”
Baugh’s design can be used by anyone with a 3D printer.
Trinity Area and West Mifflin school districts, along with small companies and hobbyists with 3D printers, have joined the effort.
Brandon Prentice, a Trinity High School technology teacher who manages the high school fabrication lab – which includes 3D printers – was given access to the lab, where he is working alone to make the shields.
Prentice configured the 3D printers to produce the part of the face shield that can be 3D printed. The part that Prentice is making is a visor that fits around the forehead and includes notches into which a clear face shield fits. The clear shield, a PVC book binding material or transparency film, can be purchased on Amazon.
“In this crazy time, being in a self-quarantine period, it limits what you can do. But being in this lab, doing what I love, having an opportunity to help others and do something that can help the community is awesome,” said Prentice.
Health-care facilities across the country are experiencing massive supply shortages of protective gear, and local hospitals and long-term care facilities have been scrambling to procure PPE and supplies. Front-line health-care workers are being asked to reuse protective gear intended for one-time use, or use makeshift masks.
Locally, hospitals – including Allegheny Health Network, Monongahela Valley and Washington – have called for local and state help to track down protective gear they will need for the anticipated surge in coronavirus cases.
Baugh said people have been dropping off and mailing the completed face shields, and he expects to make the goal for the hospital. Additionally, he has provided face shields for other workers, including the Washington Area Humane Society and the South Strabane Township Volunteer Fire Department.
He said time is critical, and his printer is running at least 18 hours a day.
He currently is working on a prototype for a device to protect anesthesiologists, who are vulnerable to high viral loads because of their proximity to patients when they intubate.
Southwestern Pennsylvanians have stepped up and launched grassroots efforts in other ways, including making face masks and providing supplies and monetary donations for health-care providers.
“One of the things that is wonderful about our country is the ability of the average citizen to come to the aid of people when needed. People are stepping up and helping in whatever way they can; that’s what’s truly amazing,” said state Rep. Tim O’Neal, who connected Baugh with Trinity High School. “As bleak as things seem now in our current situation, we will make it through, and it’s because of the willingness of people to find ways to help each other through this.”
For anyone who wants to print the face shield, the model can be found at www.thingiverse.com/thing:4241798.