Are you looking for a way you can help medical professionals?
Local organizations are printing masks, shields, and more - and can use your help!
We've all read on the news about the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for front line healthcare workers, and we've heard so many of you ask the question "What can we do?"
We've reached out to some community organizations who have current 3D PPE printing projects to find out how we can put Connecticut library 3D printers to work. Some of you have already started, and we are grateful for your efforts! More details are on our website at ctlibrarians.org/c19ppe.
MakerSpaceCT is coordinating face shield builds for the medical community. These devices fit over the head with a transparent plastic shield to protect the N-95 or other mask underneath. The headbands can be printed with PETG, PLA, or ABS 3D printer filaments. LEARN MORE
The Danbury Hackerspace has been lasercutting clear plastic shields, but they need help 3D printing the frames. They are using the Prusa design, which has been approved by Danbury Hospital. LEARN MORE
UConn Health seeks assistance printing frames that will modify their existing stockpile of masks to be effective protection against COVID-19. There are two different designs being used: A frame with spikes, which allows for the use of alternate mask material such as surgical fabric; and a mask adapter, which enables use of expired masks where the elastic no longer functions. LEARN MORE
More Ways to Help
Looking for other ways to help? Here are some ideas. Please reach out to Amanda at CLC with your interest and for clarification - astern@ctlibrarians.org.
Reference or Research Librarians - use your expertise to keep track of needs, supplies, patterns, locations for printing, drop off of finished products, stories in the news, etc.
Medical Librarians - find and/or complete research about the products being made, and latest information about the virus using the PICO model for research.
Digital Services Librarians - create a central location for all of this data. Design it so that it is easy to access by librarians and makers.
Marketing staff - create turnkey digital flyers, social media announcements, etc. for libraries to post on their websites.
Maker Librarians with 3D printing knowledge - present PD for library staff in other towns and/or programming for hobbyists that want to work on this at home.
Everyone - All of the above organizations (and many others) are seeking monetary and equipment donations. See their websites for details.
Is your library helping?
Please share your story!
If your library is already printing PPE, donating materials, or helping combat COVID-19 in other unique ways, we'd love to hear about it! Share your story by emailing Amanda at astern@ctlibrarians.org, and we'll add it to our resource page. Please let us know if we can include your contact information on the page. Thank you for your efforts!
