A WashU/BJC Maker Task Force was established to make recommendations and provide solutions for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supply prototypes due to challenges caused by COVID-19. The task force included technical experts and leaders from McKelvey Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), BJC Supply Chain, BJC/WUSM Healthcare Innovation Lab, and the broader St. Louis "maker" community.
The Results: Through tremendous efforts to discover, test, prototype and produce a variety of solutions, the task force resulted in:
- Clinician approved prototype and production of 1,000 face shields
- Clinician approved prototype and identification of local company to sew 250,000 isolation gowns
- Two shelf-ready prototypes for masks and identification of local manufacturer to produce 70,000 cloth masks
- 3,000+ disinfected N95s and numerous N95 prototypes with associated pending publications
- 2nd generation emergency ventilator prototypes
- PAPR with a pending clinical trial and EUA
Related news story: Maker task force works to protect front line health care workers
The Process: The Maker Task Force executive team worked to understand how to best use these collective efforts to identify the medical supplies that were needed, build or source them to scale, and ensure they were delivered to the clinicians and patients who needed them quickly.
A variety of sub-groups within the Maker Task Force explored 13 different product lines in the following areas: