PORT TOWNSEND — A group of volunteers are making face shields for medical professionals, having recently delivered 150 to Jefferson Healthcare hospital.
“Presto Fab,” founded last month by people who hold down full-time jobs as well as work on the personal protection equipment, also is coordinating efforts to make face masks and scrub caps.
Project Lead Steve Sullivan delivered 150 face shields to Jefferson Healthcare hospital for its employees on April 3.
Members began making shields when Sullivan’s wife, Andrea Golden — an emergency room nurse at Jefferson Healthcare — told of her need for a face shield.
It started with his wife and once hospital workers saw it, they asked for more, Sullivan said.
The shields are sold at $6 a piece, which covers the materials and some of the labor costs with making them, he said.
The group is still working on improvements to them as they go along and are negotiating with a nonprofit incubator group called “Stronger Town,” to be able to have organizations who purchase them have the charge be tax deductible, as well as being able to rely on donations from the community, Sullivan said.
“Our hope is to provide [organizations] with the best possible things they can use,” he said.
The group, which is still developing its website at prestofab.org/, plans to offer designs on the website for face shields made from easily attainable materials as well as provide a way for requests to be made for them, Sullivan said.
The shields are made from a clear vinyl that is attached to foam and weather stripping to wrap around the head. Elastic is attached to hold it in place.
“It creates a pretty comfortable shield that you can wear all day without discomfort,” Sullivan said. “It’s a design that is designed to be built from things that can be bought off the shelf.”
After the vinyl and foam is cut into shape (it’s faster to cut them all for a batch at once verses individually), the face shields take about four to six minutes to assemble, depending on whether the group sews the elastic to the vinyl or staples it with a heavy duty stapler, said Sullivan.
Sullivan is also experimenting with parts of the visor of the shields being 3-D printed, he said.
Along with Sullivan, some of the others involved with Presto Fab are Eric McCrea, Tim Lambert, Amanda Kingsley, Meredith Wagner and Gwendolyn Tracy.
More volunteers would be welcome, Sullivan said.
So far ten others have volunteered on the group’s website with offers of donated materials, skills and time.
Although the group is now focused on face shields, face masks and scrub caps, Sullivan is open to other ideas, he said.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, Sullivan expects Presto Fab to fold — as it will be no longer needed — and for the team to “go back to our regularly scheduled lives.”
For more information, see ttps://prestofab.org/.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
Andrea Golden of Jefferson Healthcare wears a Presto Fab’s face shield while at work.
