Professionals make affordable face shields for virus warriors

Yagnesh Bharat Mehta | TNN | Apr 15, 2020, 04:00 IST

Group distributed 1,000 shields to docs and laboratory technicians

Surat: A group comprising a doctor, an architect, one engineers and IT expert has developed with locally available material face shield for healthcare professionals, who are battling coronavirus amid severe shortage of the same. The group that already had distributed 1,000 kits containing face shield to doctors and laboratory technicians, gave another 60 kits to health staff of SMIMER hospital and New Civil Hospital on Monday.
Prayas Team Environment played a key role in the making and distribution of the kits conceptualized by Dr Gunjan Puri, radiologist; Manish Chevli, architect; Darshan Desai, engineer; and Jignesh Patel, computer expert.
The group members joined hands on realizing that there was severe shortage of face shield in the city. Face shield is considered an important protective gear for health workers and security personnel who directly come in contact with Covid-19 patients.
"We planned to produce it locally and experimented with various designs. The design for face shield was finalized considering availability of raw material to make it. It is made of plastic which is easily available. We got it cut through a laser cutter which is available in a nearby industrial unit," said Darshan Desai.
Each kit contains five plastic sheets to cover the face along with a frame. The frame is tied with an elastic on back for grip on one’s head. The plastic sheets with holes need to be plugged on to the frame. The sheet is easily replaceable after a few hours of use.
"We have so far distributed 1,000 kits to government doctors and private medical professionals. The face shield’s hood doesn't touch the user’s face and gives him/her comfort,” said Dr Puri.
The doctors, who received the face shields, have contributed to the cause by paying for them. Now, the group plans to distribute the face shields among Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) staff engaged in door-to-door health survey.
"Many people across globe make such face shields and their designs are readily available. We tried it on 3D printer but it was expensive. Hence, we used laser cutting technique to increase speed of production," said Chevli.
The group designed and began production within a week. Its is continuing to make it available to all frontline corona warriors in the city.