By WBTV Web Staff | March 22, 2020 at 7:44 PM EDT – Updated March 24 at 6:49 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A Charlotte school has exceeded their fundraising goal for 3D print face shields for nurses and doctors treating patients who may have novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The school told WBTV they were even able to send 45 masks to Atrium Health Sunday night.
The Fab Lab Team engineering team at Charlotte Latin School, in support of the #MillionMaskChallenge, has designed its own face shield that can be printed on-site. The face shields will be given to local hospitals, beginning with Levine Cancer Institute.
For every $10, two reusable face shields will be made to protect two front frontline medical workers.
Charlotte Latin School is raising money because of the nationwide shortage of medical protective gear, which is also impacting Charlotte’s medical personnel.
“Hospitals have either run out of masks or staff are being asked to reuse the ones they have — at times tasked to make one mask last a 10-hour shift — all of which pose major health risks,” Charlotte Latin Fab Lab Team said on its GoFundMe page. The students from Charlotte Latin School consulted with Atrium Health physicians to refine their prototype and make sure the design follows standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The shield will be a clear plastic shield which extends an inch or two in front of someone’s nose, leaving the medical personnel with enough room to wear a surgical mask underneath.
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