60,000 face shields for NHS hospitals.
Cambridge Judge Business School entrepreneurs are taking part in a volunteer effort to produce thousands of face shields helping to protect hospital staff from coronavirus.
ShieldNHS, a non-profit organisation founded in March 2020, says it has already delivered more than 60,000 face shields to 56 hospitals across the UK to support doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19.
One of the leading volunteers is entrepreneur Lucy Jung, Co-Founder of medical startup Charco that is currently on the Accelerate Cambridge programme at the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge. Lucy approached US company Delve, which had designed the Badger Shield. A team of volunteers in the UK including firefighters, the Salvation Army and entrepreneurs are now working to produce face shields based on the Badger Shield model to be donated to hospitals, ambulance services and care homes.
Dr Floyd Pierres, a doctor who is Co-Founder of Charco, is also volunteering for ShieldNHS. Working on the frontline he saw first-hand the importance of protective personal equipment (PPE). “We at ShieldNHS have worked on strict procedures and testing to ensure the face shields are safe and reliable to protect us,” he says. “With the public’s support, we hope to help as many on the frontline during these difficult times.”
The team has set up a fundraising page aiming to fund another batch of face shields. Every pound raised will deliver one face shield to frontline staff.
Lucy Jung said: “The ShieldNHS campaign demonstrates how strong we can be together, partnering and collaborating across different institutions. Help us help the NHS and achieve our goal to produce another 40,000 Badger Shields in the next three weeks.”
The face shields are made using clear polyethylene film, elastic and foam. They can be easily assembled by volunteers as quickly as one minute, and 2,500 face shields can be assembled per day in one fire station. Everyone is working on the project for free.
Research suggests the face shields, designed to be worn alongside breathing masks, can play an important part in protecting NHS staff from COVID-19.