How You Can Help

This is a difficult time in which people may feel powerless to help combat COVID-19, but there are things you can do to help protect your community. Please read the information below to learn what items have been deemed critical and how you can get involved.

Manufacturers

PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) is critical to the protection of healthcare workers, acting as a barrier and therefore controlling exposure to COVID-19. Some of the most fundamental items comprising PPE include gloves, goggles, surgical masks, respirators, protective gowns, and disinfectant. Many of these crucial PPE items are now in short supply due to interruptions in the supply chain, and also from the massive demand as the number of patients infected continues to grow exponentially. 

Numerous medical devices are required to treat the COVID-19 patient and will also fall into short supply (e.g. ventilators). Shortages of necessary PPE and medical devices will continue to pose a significant problem for healthcare workers and patients around the globe. Anyone with production capabilities should carefully consider the manufacture of known designs and development of new designs for the following items:

 

Supplies Hand Sanitizer Bias Tape Makers Mask Helpers PPE   N95 Respirators Face Masks Goggles Examination Gloves Gowns Face Shields (Full Face Protection / FFP) Scrubs Booties

Medical Supplies   Nasal Cannulas Nasal Catheters Flow-Splitters for Oxygen Supply Thorpe Tube Flowmeter Oxygen Masks Venturi Masks Devices   Negative Pressure Rooms Non-Contact Thermometers Ventilator Machines Hospital Beds Oxygen Concentrators Pulse Oximeters Non-Heated Humidifier  Laryngoscopes Infusion Pumps

If you are able to produce any of these items, please access this document to ensure you are ready to proceed.  

If you can help in this effort, we ask that you fill out the COVID-19 Critical Supplies Survey. Please contact us if you have any questions about this process or completing the survey.

Your response to this survey will be submitted the U.S. Department of Commerce through NIST-MEP for the purpose of connecting your company to entities responsible for procuring COVID-19 critical supply shortage materials.  Your response will also be submitted the State of Tennessee COVID-19 Unified Command team as a Tennessee company interested in helping to address the shortages.

---

Opensource Drawings/Specs for Critical Medical Supplies

Face Shields

Multiple manufacturers and independent groups have made face shield templates available:

• Face shield and Avid optimized face shield 3D printing designs from HP
• Face shield designs, specs, and instructions from Bauer 
• Face shield 3D printing models, templates, and assembly instructions from Budmen Industries
• Face shield drawings and designs from Badger Shield 

Face Masks

• Stopgap face mask (SFM) 3D printed designs are available from HP 
• A number of different websites are now offering free patterns to make face masks:
  • Freesewing.org
  • Sew It Online 
  • Masks for Heroes (includes video tutorial) 
  • UnityPoint Health
• Once sewn, Vanderbilt University Medical Center offers helpful advice on how to donate your handmade supplies.

Face Mask Adjuster

• A pattern is also now available to 3D print a face mask strap holder to reduce ear strain for healthcare workers who constantly wear mask straps around their ears. The free design has been approved by the National Institute of Health. 
• HP also released a 3D printed design for a face mask adjuster. 

Respirators

NIH 3D Print Exchange has a variety of respirator, face shield, and other 3D printed medical supply designs available. 

Ventilators

• MIT has shared its ~$500 emergency ventilator design with the public in hopes of increasing ventilator production worldwide.
• Medtronic is allowing public access to the design specifications for the Puritan Bennett™ 560 (PB 560) to enable the industry to assist in rapid ventilator manufacturing to help the front lines dealing with COVID-19. 

Wrist Covers 

HP released 3D printing designs for a sterilizable wrist cover device, which was created to cover exposed skin between a healthcare professional's glove and their lab coat sleeve. (Currently, healthcare providers are using double gloves to cover this space but due to the limited supply of gloves, this cover is a better alternative.) 

Hands-Free Door Opener

HP published designs for two 3D printed door openers - one to be attached to a door handle, the other to be held in the user's hand as a personal opener, to limit the transfer of germs on door handles with frequent use. 

Hand Sanitizer 

A number of groups have published approaches for creating your own hand sanitizer, including: 

• The World Health Organization
• Healthline
• Bridge - Michigan Health Watch

---

Back to the UT CIS Coronavirus Dashboard