Coronavirus Philadelphia: 'Philly Fighting COVID' Ramping Up Efforts To Provide Region's Hospitals With Reusable Personal Protective Equipment
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - While life has slowed down for many of us during this pandemic, a new effort to provide reusable personal protective equipment to hospitals is ramping up. Philly Fighting COVID is spearheaded by Drexel neuroscience graduate student Andrei Doroshin, who says he was tired of just sitting around, playing with his dog and wanted to do something to help.
He quickly rounded up some engineer friends.
"Within three days, we were making our first face shields," he said.
Those engineers formed a research and development team that designed the face shields to be extra sturdy for use of up to three weeks. Doroshin says they're now producing about a thousand a day.
"We have makers around Philadelphia that are 3D-printing this on their own printers, then we have people that go pick them up, decontaminate them and then package them for hospitals," he said.
They've focused their initial donations on smaller, community hospitals like Mercy Fitzgerald in Darby and Suburban Hospital in East Norriton.
"We get pictures from doctors and nurses wearing our stuff, like on our social media, we post it, it's really been quite humbling," Doroshin said. "They've been ecstatic because they've had people charge them for stuff, which is mind-blowing."
The team is currently working on a reusable mask that will better protect health care workers while reducing waste.
"Our R and D team is working full-time on making respirators," Doroshin said. "These are basically like N95s, but they're vacuum-formed."
Their goal is to flood the region's hospitals with face shields, so they can branch out to help other communities, particularly in rural areas. At the same time, Doroshin is encouraging others to replicate what the Philly team has done.
"We want people to copy us, we're not patenting anything," he said. "Anywhere you are in the country or the world, go on our stuff, copy it, do your own operation."
Philly Fighting COVID is also partnering with the Red Cross on blood drives.
To find out more about their efforts and how to donate or volunteer, visit Philly Fighting COVID's website.