COVID-19 has initiated a search for answers to the limited supply of basic personal protective equipment, or PPE, required for health care providers who are on the front line fighting the disease.
Although this pandemic is global, local solutions regarding the potential shortages of masks and ventilators are being generated by a task force in the Lubbock area.
Simon Williams, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Texas Tech University Health and Sciences Center, has put together a team consisting of faculty from the departments of engineering and architecture, as well as the honors college, TTU HSC physicians, and local community members.
After the team initially collaborated about a week ago, they have already exhibited results by using 3D printers to create face shields. Physicians and nurses are wearing face shields to substitute surgical masks, which are in low supply.
“In essence, what it does is protects them (health care workers) from any fluids from a sneeze or cough,” Williams said, “and gives them the personal protective equipment that is what’s in most short supply.”
The 3D printed face frames are made with plastic shields, Williams said. As more of them are shipped to various hospitals in West Texas, the team will need to continue assembling materials so they can continue to produce shields.
“These materials (face shields) will be really helpful fairly quickly and quite widely,” Williams said, “and we’re talking about doing that across West Texas.”
The task force is also exploring various ways to make personal protective equipment with unused materials already found in hospitals.
Ventilator shortage is another main concern for health care providers during this crisis.
A medical ventilator is a machine used to help patients with severe symptoms breathe by giving oxygen through a tube.
Ventilators are also on the task force’s project list. If the number of COVID-19 patients surges in the West Texas area, potential solutions to the low supply of ventilators are being explored.
One of those solutions is creating ventilators that can safely and efficiently supply up to four patients with oxygen, instead of just one. The project is targeted toward rural areas where hospitals may only have one or two ventilators to assist patients as they transition to a major hospital.
“We want to make sure that we’re supporting our folks (West Texas),” Williams said. “I don’t think we’re going to be supplying (products) Texas-wide, but we’re ready to supply them with the steps for making some of these pieces of equipment.”
There are varying levels of complexity with these projects, Williams said. If there is a definite need, versions of the face shields and ventilators can be made by following simple steps, and Williams hopes to continue working with the State of Texas to provide information needed.
“While I can’t really predict what the situation will be like here,” Williams said, “we just don’t know what it’s going to look like in a week or two and we want to be ready for that.”
Although there are multiple projects focused on ventilators at the moment, Williams explained the necessity of masks for health care workers.
“I don’t want any of our health care workers to go into a room not feeling that they’re sufficiently protected,” Williams said. “We’re exploring every single possibility we can so that they can feel safe when they see these patients.”
This collaboration has been successful because of the amount of work and energy each individual has put forth to prepare Lubbock and the West Texas area.
“I want to make sure that the people who have stepped up in various ways get recognized,” Williams said. “I’m just trying to help everyone else do what they need to do.”
The community has stepped up in many ways. Local businesses and organizations have offered their materials and abilities to the health care task team.
“There is just an incredible amount of energy,” Williams said. “We’ve been able to put together a team that coordinates and only proceeds with things that we know are going to actually have impact.”
More information about the task force can be found at https://www.wt3dreliefconsortium.com/.
For More of Texas Tech Public Media's COVID-19 coverage visit: https://tv.kttz.org/news/local/covid19/
