Shutting Down: A Thank You
The Story
Six weeks ago, as the reality of the coronavirus pandemic was coming into focus, we recognized an urgent need for all of the health care workers to have personal protective equipment. Nurses, doctors and EMTs were going to work without the gear they needed and we thought we could help bridge the gap until commercial supplies became available again.
With the help of dozens of volunteers, we delivered 30,000 cap shields. We shipped them all over the country. In the beginning we sent them to local Bay Area hospitals as well as hard hit areas like New York City and New Jersey. As the situation in NY stabilized, we sent them to hospitals in Chicago, LA and New Orleans. In the last few weeks, we sent shields to smaller hospitals in the South and Midwest as well as the Navajo Nation. Rather than distribute them through hospital or government administrators (which seemed incredibly bureaucratic and inefficient), we shipped them directly to front line health care workers.
We wanted to pass along some thoughts and images they shared with us.
With the help of dozens of volunteers, we delivered 30,000 cap shields. We shipped them all over the country. In the beginning we sent them to local Bay Area hospitals as well as hard hit areas like New York City and New Jersey. As the situation in NY stabilized, we sent them to hospitals in Chicago, LA and New Orleans. In the last few weeks, we sent shields to smaller hospitals in the South and Midwest as well as the Navajo Nation. Rather than distribute them through hospital or government administrators (which seemed incredibly bureaucratic and inefficient), we shipped them directly to front line health care workers.
We wanted to pass along some thoughts and images they shared with us.
- “Thank you so much. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. It fills me with hope when our community responds as one.” - Highland Hospital ICU nurse
- “Thank you so much for your AMAZING cap shield donation! We here at Georgetown University in the COVID ICUs greatly APPRECIATE all the HARD work and TIME you put into these face-shields. We LOVE them! Your hats are being worn by physicians, nurses (including the flight team) respiratory therapists, patient care technicians, secretaries, and our housekeeping/sanitation department.”
-Georgetown University Hospital COVID ICU - “I wanted to send you a huge THANK YOU for providing our hospital staff with the face shield. Everyone was truly appreciative and wanted me to send you their love and appreciation.”
-Nurses at Sutter Health - “All the doctors from The Brooklyn Hospital Center would like to thank you all. Thanks for taking care for us when we really needed help. We have been using the Face shield in daily life and it’s really convenient.
- No matter how bad things goes; our humanity is still alive for each other which makes America beautiful. Hope we all together come out of this; better and strong than before.”
- Doctor at Brooklyn Hopsital Center - "Dear friends at Peoples Protective Equipment and the volunteers. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the donation of shields to us. We are from Los Angeles Community Hospital Subacute Unit. Our staff were beyond happy, some cried and could not say thank you enough for your kindness. We currently have about 10 shields to share with all our staff in our unit and have been trying to fix any way we can the ones that break as they are mostly intended for a day use not multiple times. Your shields were enough for every single one of our staff members and will take care of them like their most prized possession. We have patients that are PUI’s and they have been a life saver. Words cannot express our gratitude, how this much means to us and that you are saving our lives during this pandemic. You have lifted a huge worry off our shoulders and we can focus on giving patient care and be happy that we have protection. May God bless you all and return many blessings. You guys are angels!!!!"
-Los Angeles Community Hospital
We could not have done this without the help of the people who donated time, money and skills. Thank you very much for all your help in making this happen; we can say with certainty that your work really made a difference.
Thanks,
Chris and Carl
Thanks,
Chris and Carl
While we are no longer making CapShields, we've left the information below as a guide to anyone who would like to use or create their own CapShields. This includes an Instructable detailing how to create the CapShields, and a video about how to clean them (see the Links & Contact Info section).
It's been thrilling to see the response of the community and incredible generosity demonstrated by all who helped this project. However, there are a couple parting thoughts we'd like to pass along:
First, despite our appreciation for the impact of stopgap efforts like the CapShield, we as a country should not be reliant on endeavoring makers to supply essential equipment such as PPE. We hope lessons are learned from this disaster, and we hope to see a vastly improved government response in the near future.
And lastly, while we have greatly appreciated the ability this work has given us to feel like part of the solution, our contribution pales in comparison to that of all the individuals on the front lines of this crisis who put their lives at risk every day. They didn't ask for this crisis, but they've more than answered the call. We hope everyone will remember their contribution long beyond the duration of the pandemic. And once again, we'd like to offer our heartfelt thanks to them.
CapShield
Our face shield is called the CapShield. Designed to be easy to assemble and mass produce with the supplies that are currently available, the CapShield consists of two parts: a polycarbonate shield and a regular ol' baseball cap. The shield and cap can easily be detached (and reattached) for cleaning. The shield can be disinfected with an alcohol wipe or soap and water, and the cap can be cleaned like any other piece of laundry. Here's a video of a registered nurse and CapShield user explaining how.
Additionally, the design is entirely open source. In fact, we have an instructable here that explains how to make them (including all necessary design files).
Additionally, the design is entirely open source. In fact, we have an instructable here that explains how to make them (including all necessary design files).
Where can I learn more / see the CapShield in action?
Check out our Pictures & Press page. It has pictures of the CapShields being used all over the country, as well as them being assembled.
Links & Contact Info
If you'd like to get in touch, please email us at peoples.protective.equipment@gmail.com.
GoFundMe
Instagram
Instructable: How to Make a CapShield
Video: How to Clean a CapShield
GoFundMe
Instructable: How to Make a CapShield
Video: How to Clean a CapShield
