Gov. Jay Inslee called for local manufacturers to step up and make face masks and protective gear needed to protect healthcare workers caring for coronavirus patients because of a global shortage.
“We need to seize our own destiny,” Inslee said during a press conference on April 1. “It is time for all of us to turn to manufacturing the equipment we need in this fight. We need businessmen and women to turn to making surgical masks and test kits.”
In Jefferson County—a community full of artists, woodworkers, boatbuilders and makers—the governor’s call did not fall on deaf ears. Port Townsend locals Gwendolyn Tracy and Steve Sullivan were way ahead of him.
Tracy, who owns Fine Yacht Interiors in Port Townsend’s Boat Haven, normally sews upholstery, cushions and curtains for boat interiors. But when she heard healthcare workers and individuals might need face masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus, she took a break from boat upholstery and began sewing protective equipment.
To help with her endeavours, she called her friends Steve Sullivan and Andrea Golden.
“Andrea is an ER nurse, and they’re friends of the family,” she said. “I called and left her a message about masks because I wanted to be able to prototype something that would be ergonomically comfortable.”
Steve Sullivan began working with Tracy to develop a mask that would both fit well and offer the most protection for nurses, getting feedback from his wife Andrea who was at work in the hospital.
The CDC now recommends everyone wear face masks when in public to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
“Masks should be used in addition to social distancing, not instead of it,” said Tom Locke, Jefferson County’s Public Health Officer. “It is extremely important that people not use medical masks in low-risk community settings. This ends up keeping those manufactured masks out of the hands of the frontline health care workers and first responders who are putting their health on the line to protect others.”
An abundant supply of cloth masks can ease the shortage of surgical masks, Locke said, since the cloth masks can be used by patients visiting medical facilities instead of surgical masks that are in short supply.
“At the end of the day, it’s not just about the hospital’s needs,” Sullivan said. “We want our hospital to keep pressure on the federal government for supplies. When they get the supplies they need, the rest of the world is still going to need masks.”
If someone is carrying the disease and doesn’t know it, a face mask can prevent them from spreading it through the droplets they expel while coughing, talking or sneezing.
“Research indicates that the virus is spread through touching things and then touching your face,” Sullivan said. “When you wear a mask, you don’t touch your face.”
Not only that, but many workers in Jefferson County’s marine trades industry need masks to protect themselves on the job from dangerous particles. But the supply chain is limited, and masks are prioritized for the medical industry.
Tracy and Sullivan worked together to create a mask that is both comfortable and protective and could work for healthcare workers and others.
But soon, they realized they needed to put face masks on the backburner for a more important project.
“The next time we checked in, Steve said, ‘Word from the hospital nurses is that they really need face shields,’” Tracy said. “I had a few odds and ends and we made a couple prototypes and Steve took them off and got some feedback.”
While they were sending face shield prototypes to local nurses for feedback, Sullivan, who works as the director of product management for Walmart eCommerce, began to organize others in town.
He contacted other people in town, including jeweler Tim Lambert, who is helping develop a “no sew” mask design as well as helping the group source metal; Amanda Kinglsey, who helped spread the word by creating a website; Eric McRae, an engineer who builds machines, writes software and is part of the design and engineering team; and Nathan Dye, a software engineer in Seattle who is managing the open sourcing of the designs.
“Our healthcare workers are waiting for the crest of this wave,” Sullivan said. “When it comes, it will be a very stressful and difficult time for them. We just saw a huge need. And one of the amazing things in this county is that a lot of people do pull together when there’s something that needs to be taken care of.”
Just like with the face masks, the shields have been a process of trial and error. At first, they made them based on a design from Providence Joseph’s “Million Masks” face shield pattern.
But after receiving feedback from local nurses, they altered the design for comfort and to prevent the shields from fogging up.
According to Yaley, face shields are good additional barriers for nurses and doctors. They are also reusable, because the shields can be cleaned.
While ordering the supplies they needed, such as the clear vinyl and foam padding that makes up the face shields, Tracy and Sullivan noticed the supply chain is strained. If the local hospital can’t get the protective equipment it needs when the peak of the virus hits, they want to be able to offer an alternative.
“The supply chain cannot keep up,” Tracy said. “This is something we can do that will fill that hole in the supply chain and help the folks close to home … We care about our nurses and doctors.”
Right now, the group has enough supplies to make 1,000 face shields, Sullivan said. On April 3, they made 150 shields and delivered them to Jefferson Healthcare.
They also have made their face shield and face mask patterns open-source, so other makers in the community can contribute to the supply.
“We’re open-sourcing these designs, which means this shop and any shop can produce them if they want to,” Sullivan said.
Tracy’s face mask design is also an easy enough pattern to follow for those with basic sewing skills.
“I wanted to make it simple enough that someone with basic sewing skills can produce them,” she said. “You can be part of the solution.”
To learn more about their mask and face shield project, go to prestofab.org.
