When COVID-19 started to impact the United States we began to have a shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE). One major piece of equipment that medical facilities are running short on is face masks/shields. The shortage of masks/shields is forcing health care workers to put themselves at risk of getting the virus. Some nurses are only being given one face mask daily that they are having to wear throughout their whole shift.
The owners of Cada Soapery, Will Cada and Bailey Cada heard about the shortage and decided to take action thinking of ways to help the local facilities. They started to make face shields to donate to healthcare workers who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients.
They have begun using ten of their 54 3D printers to make these face shields. “Time on our printers has been slated everyday to make these face shields,” the Cadas shared. The face shields are made in the 3D printers with PLA plastic. The shield size is 8.5” by 11.25” to be able to protect their whole face, eyes, nose, and mouth. When they had the idea to make the face shields they made sure they were approved by the National Institute of Health (NIH). They are making on average 40 masks a day. Each face shield takes about five hours to print and then they assemble the 3D printed pieces to make the shields. All the material for face shields have been purchased by Will and Bailey.
“We have many friends and family in the medical field, after hearing about the lack of supplies for those in the frontline, we decided to do our part to help the community,” Bailey Cada shared. So far they have donated 50 face shields to Bayfront Spring Hill, 50 more face shields have been donated to Bayfront Brooksville, and they have donated many others to Access Health and to many other nurses in the area.
They wish they could help everyone but due to limited supply and access to materials they are only providing face shields to those in direct contact to COVID-19 patients. Local nurses and medical personnel may reach out to Will or Bailey with any questions at [email protected].
The two of them tackle making these face shields daily to make sure those on the frontline are properly protected. “It feels so good knowing that even though our doors are closed to Cada Soapery and we are struggling too, that we can do our part to help,” Bailey Cada shared.
People in the community can help by donating on their website at http://cadamolds.com/pages/Covid-19-information.
We hope everyone is staying safe during this time.
