With COVID-19 positive cases in the State climbing by the day, the safety of frontliners becomes paramount. It is this concern that led city-based company ButterFly Edufields, T-Works and the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) to join hands and fabricate an isolation box and face shields which seek to better protect healthcare workers.
The company is all set to deliver as many as 300 face shields to NIMS on Monday. “We got to know that a team of doctors from NIMS wanted help in getting an isolation box. We contacted them and they told us about their requirement. So, we started making it in a workshop in Alwal. The box prevents the aerosol from coming out. In this case, the aerosol is the droplets from the patient and keeps the frontliners safer,” said K. Sharat Chandra, co-founder of ButterFly Edufields. The healthcare professional, through slots in the box, can access the patient.
The isolation box was reportedly designed by a Taiwanese anesthesiologist Lai Hsien-Yung. Certain modifications were made and the box, made of acrylic sheets, was fabricated in around three-and-a-half hours.
Meanwhile, work to deliver the 300 face shields, also to protect medical frontliners, is in full swing. Another requirement of NIMS doctors, the shield is made of an OHP sheet, elastic band and a styrofoam sheet.
According to Mr Chandra, steps were taken to ensure that the shield is affordable and accordingly, the price has been kept between ₹20 and ₹25. “The shield is disposable. We are have made the design open source so that those in other cities can use it,” he said.
The company is now exploring options to ramp up production.
