First Responder Parents Inspire Son to Build COVID-19 Protective Devices
Amidst the growing pandemic a young man influenced by his parents' community work decided to help build personal protective equipment with fellow Georgia Tech mechanical engineering students and faculty members.
Atlanta-native Kentez Craig grew up near the airport, where both his parents work as first responders in the Metro area. They either would be driving to the fire station or local hospital, especially during emergencies.
In an interview with NBC News, Craig, who is taking his master's degree, made it known that:
"[He] saw nothing better [he] could do to give back to people like [his] mom, [his] dad - who have been working in emergency services - and first responders on the real front lines of this."
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As the outbreak is unfolding, and necessity is the mother of invention, that's why he is a part of a team of graduate and Ph.D. students who are fighting the good fight by rising up to the occasion.
The group is being guided by health instructors from the Atlanta metropolitan area as they manufacture ventilators and face shield drawn up and designed by a combination of a laser cutter and a water jet machine. One of the projects that their small-scale workshop is also working on is a protective foldable shield that will be used by frontliners when performing intubations.
Intubation is a very delicate procedure, especially during this time wherein an endotracheal tube (ET) is stuck in through the mouth into a patient to create a passage for air. Despite being sedated, some patients will still have involuntary reflexes, such as coughing. This proto-type cover will help minimize splash droplets and aerosol transmissions in the course of the insertion.
Importantly, their creation gives an extra layer of protection for health care workers like nurses and doctors, especially with the ongoing shortage of high-standard personal protective equipment.
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How It All Began
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering gave explained the details on how this amazing venture because of the urgent need for PPEs in the health care sector.
"When we were talking with health care workers, we realized that the need was in the order of millions, and the need was in the order of weeks, if not days," he told Yahoo! News.
Last April, Georgie Institute of Technology designed an easy-to-build ventilator device as posted in Georgia Tech. The ventilator can perform the usual respiration rate, tidal volume, and inspiration and expiration ratio, just like a standard ventilator.
In more gadgets designed to fight the pandemic, a hands-free door handle was created by Wyn Griffiths inspired by his local hospital visits, as reported by Mondaq News Alert. The prototype arm is to be attached to a door. It can be downloaded for free.
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