COVID-19 Response for Healthcare Workers

When COVID-19 sent all students home partway through the semester, it was no longer possible to fabricate in the lab and some projects had to come to a halt until we could be back in person.  In the classes that this happened, the students wanted to use this time at home to have a more meaningful impact on what was happening around us.  Within a group of six students, we identified a problem related to COVID-19, and solved it in our communities.  The goal of the project was to implement a solution to a problem that rapidly developed and was causing widespread hardship.  At that time, healthcare workers were beginning to post online about the toll that wearing a mask all day was taking on their body, including creating wounds behind their ears from the mask’s straps.  Part of the problem was due to proper PPE being purchased by the general public, not leaving enough for essential worker and leaving them to resort to masks that are harsher on the body.  The goal of the project was to create an alternative for disposable PPE for the public, with accommodations that reduce ear pain with these homemade masks.  The team decided on a cloth mask and a 3D printed headpiece that would allow for the straps to be attached to that rather than behind the ear.

In this project, I created the pattern for the cloth masks and provided all supplies, including fabric, elastic, and thread.  Since the start of the pandemic, I had been sewing masks for my friends and family, so I continued to do this as an element of this project to share with the community.  Another member of the team was able to 3D print the plastic pieces that the mask straps attach to and distribute them throughout the team.  After receiving my shipment of these pieces, and making plenty of cloth masks, I began distributing them in the community of Purcellville, Virginia.  This step happened after the conclusion of the class assignment, and was continued since I saw a need for these cloth masks in the community to alleviate the shortage of appropriate PPE for healthcare workers.